New Hires
by AleyKitty
Summary: Kurama and Hiei are facing very different dilemmas in life, but they both end up with the same solution. Two OC girls, Vena and Kane, break into their lives and create a whirlwind of excitement. Co-written by ArmordaRay Swearing, Mentioning Mature Content, K/OC, H/OC
1. Chapter 1 Disaster Recall

Author's Note: Hello everyone, thanks for taking a glance at this. I just wanted to note that this was co-written by the lovely ArmordaRay whom I follow/favorite. If you want to check out more stories by us, she has some on her profile too.

* * *

He couldn't believe his eyes when he pushed open the big door to Mukuro's bedchamber loathing the idea that he was going to have to actually conduct a meeting with her, in here. This was probably the worst place in the entire structure to have a meeting. He had so many other things that he would rather be doing than walking all the way back here that it was annoying. He couldn't even run in it because the damn thing would practically short circuit if he beat on it that hard with his feet. He needed to move gently.

So, when he finally pushed open the door to her room, and saw her completely naked, he was a little over peeved. "Mukuro, what the hell are you doing? This is supposed to be a Border Patrol meeting about creating stationary posts."

"We are having a meeting about stationary posts." Mukuro offered.

"Well it looks like you're ready for a bath."

"Oh this? I just thought we'd have a more, casual, dress attire."

"That's not casual, that's nude."

"It's comfortable," Mukuro smirked and sat lounging on her bed. "So Hiei, what are your opinions of who we should put in the eighth region?"

"With you lounging around like a damn slut I don't want to answer you."

"That's too bad because we need to have this meeting and you, are clearly the one holding things up."

"I think Ashi should be in the eighth region for sure."

"On what grounds?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why him?"

"He's been showing good progress, I think he'd like the change."

"But this would be going into a stationary position. After being put on an outpost, there might not be much change."

"No, but I think he's ready for it." Hiei ran a hand through his hair and turned his back to the woman.

"Hiei, is something the matter?"

"No."

"Then why don't you come sit down?"

"I don't want to sit down."

"Well why not? You should be seated for meetings."

"And you should be dressed for them too!" He snapped loudly.

"I am dressed." She flicked the bit of cloth on her robotic eye.

"You're stark naked."

"Oh Hiei, you don't have to be embarrassed by my nudity. You're going to see a lot more of it after all."

Hiei shifted to look at her, "What?"

"When you finally accept my invitation," She patted the bed next to her, giving her best alluring smile.

"No Mukuro."

"For now, perhaps. Who would you suggest for the Klouse region?"

"No, not ever. I'm not lying beside you. I thought I made that clear a long time ago."

"You'll give in eventually. I'm your superior, you'll get more power sleeping with me than fighting me."

"Tch, in your wildest dreams Mukuro. I'd rather be weaker than sleep with you and become more powerful."

"That makes no sense Hiei. You'll come around to my way of thinking soon. Just give it time."

"No, I won't. Stop trying to make yourself feel better, it's never going to happen so you might as well just stop now before you hurt yourself.

"I'm not trying to hurt myself Hiei. I want you as my bed-mate. I want you with me, here, by my side."

"Sorry, it's not happening." Hiei snapped.

Mukuro tutted her tongue and shook her head, "Who do we want in the other regions?"

Hiei sighed, "I'll have this meeting with you when you're ready to be an actual leader Mukuro, and not some whore." With that, he turned tail and hurried from the room, evacuating to his room.

It didn't take long for Mukuro to come storming after him, her energy enraged, and by the time Hiei got to his room, he didn't stop leaving. He just, grabbed his cloak, and headed out his skylight hatch.

When he finally stopped running, he was panting, opening the window to a familiar bedroom, "Fox?"

"Hm?" Kurama was just wrapped in a towel, his body glistening with water. He had another one drying his hair in squeezing circles trying to pull out the liquid there.

Hiei nearly stopped on the window sill when he saw Kurama practically naked as well. Kurama, however, wasn't attempting to seduce him, he just happened to have gotten out of the shower. Hiei could tell he was preoccupied with drying off rather than his guest as he wandered to the dresser and pulled out underwear and pants. "Uh, I'm crashing here for a little while."

"What's up Hiei?" Kurama asked as he shuffled into his boxers and pulled his pants on.

"The-uh, the usual. Mukuro's being a horny bitch."

"Uh huh, the usual." Kurama raised an eyebrow, "Well, Hiei, like always, you're welcome to stay here."

"I know what I said Fox, you don't need to repeat it!" Hiei couldn't help snapping at him. He really wanted to beat Mukuro into the ground for what she'd pulled, forcing him into a confrontation like that, with her nude and him, well, he was uncomfortable with all of it. He just wanted her to get off his back and now the fox was repeating him. He kicked off his boots and tossed his cloak aside.

"God Hiei, calm down. I'll make you some hot chocolate in a minute, just let me finish drying off."

"I don't come here just for your sweet stuff!" He couldn't help it. The fox always made him feel embarrassed when he commented on his sweet tooth, and the fox knew it too. He poked fun at him about it more often than not, but it was true. He was there for Kurama, not just, a place to stay, or something delicious, or a friend, he wanted Kurama's advice.

Kurama sighed and pulled a shirt on, buttoning it up and nodding, "Alright, I'm almost done." He ran his fingers through his hair and sat down heavily on his bed, picking his towel back up to pat at his bangs, his shoulders sagging a little.

Hiei sighed in tandem with the fox and shook his head. He crossed to the dresser and picked up the Fox's brush settling down behind him, starting to work on the tangles of the fox's red locks. "It's just, frustrating when she is constantly coming onto me and I have to work with her still. I can't avoid her, and I can't tell her to stop because I've done that and she hasn't."

"Maybe punch her through the wall? I'd do it for you Hiei."

"I've done something similar, but she didn't fly anywhere. I'm not strong enough from an inert moment and if I give her a chance, she defends. She's on edge around me after my first attempt."

"Good, just keep trying Hiei," Kurama sighed and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.

"It's not going to work Fox. I have kept trying, but it hasn't done shit. She's gotten stronger, I think because she's attracted to me."

"Ugh, great." Kurama sighed, "Well, maybe," he frowned, "Let me think about that for a few minutes Hiei."

Hiei frowned and leaned to the side to see Kurama's face. The fox was not looking that thoughtful. Usually if he had advice it wasn't something Hiei had to wait for. Also, Hiei caught sight of the little wet footprints from the bathroom to the dresser and realized the fox usually was already dressed when he left the bathroom. This time, he dressed in the bedroom, where his window was always open for Hiei to come. It didn't make much sense, and making sense was the name of Kurama's cup of tea.

"Maybe get someone to pretend to be your girlfriend or boyfriend. I'd suggest a fake girlfriend over a boyfriend though." Kurama offered quietly.

"Why?"

"It'll show her that you're really not interested in her at all."

"But if it was a guy, then I could show her I'm not interested in women, period."

"But with a woman you show her you're not interested in her as a woman," Kurama sighed heavily, "Does that make sense Hiei?"

"Yeah, but there's only one person I can think of who I'd ever want to put that much faith in as a potential person for a relationship, even a fake one."

"Who Hiei?"

"You. Your acting skills are impeccable and we get along. I trust you."

Kurama smiled, "Thank you Hiei, that makes me feel better."

"Feel better? What's going on?" Hiei finished brushing out the back of the fox's hair and handed him the brush taking a seat on his computer chair.

"I've had a rough day." Kurama collapsed onto his back and brought his legs up onto the bed, wrapping his arms around his stomach, "Someone knew I was a demon."

"Oh," Hiei came back over to the bed and sat beside him as support. "Did they, break your cover?" It took Hiei a couple minutes to figure out the right words, but he knew he got them right because it felt right. He just didn't understand how cover could be broken when the fox was always in sight.

"Not entirely but they freaked out pretty bad. He told everyone, so the word is out, and I replaced him pretty quickly."

"Does Shiori know?"

"She knows, but I don't know if she believes it or not."

"Fox, I know you don't want to but now might be the right time to admit everything to her."

"No Hiei, I don't want to."

"I know, but if you don't, and whomever this next person is comes in and confirms it, she's going to wonder why you didn't just tell her. You know how accepting she is. She's always been accepting. She's going to accept this too, but it'll be easier on both of you if you admit it to her rather than making her find out through someone else."

"I don't think she'll believe someone else, I'm her son Hiei. She gave birth to me. She has no reason to believe I'm demon."

"Even after the newspaper?"

"Of course."

"Even after all the weird things you've done over the years?"

"Hiei, you were in the paper as an alien."

"I know, what do you think I'm talking about? You've got to consider that these things are going to stack up some time Kurama."

"She doesn't think you're an alien Hiei."

"You're not the telepath Kurama, I am. Now I'm not saying I've used my Jagan on your mother, but I know the limits of misperception when there are multiple people saying the same thing. Shiori's not a dumb woman, after the third case she's going to start wondering how it might have been possible, and from there, it's just a matter of asking someone who is a demon. There are demons crawling around Human World Kurama, eventually one of them is going to spill the beans and you're going to be on the receiving end of her questions."

"Why would she trust the word of a random stranger Hiei? Why?"

"Because she'd give them nothing to lie about. She wouldn't ask them about you, she'd ask them how it could be possible for a human-born person to be a demon."

"I'm not going to tell her yet Hiei."

Hiei sighed, "Fine, but you should figure out what you're going to say when you have to."

Kurama nodded and rolled to rest his head in Hiei's lap, closing his eyes as he curled up into a ball, "I'll have to think about that."

"Yeah," Hiei played with Kurama's hair keeping his idle hands busy.

* * *

Kurama sat at his desk, attempting to make everything as neat as possible even though he'd already done it twenty times. He kept pushing the monitor of his computer to one side more, moving his stapler, paper clips, and other human devices around. It was the only thing the Fox could think of to help his troubled mind, and when he heard the knock at his door he froze like a deer in headlights. He took a deep breath, feeling his muscles tense up as he fixed everything very quickly to the way it had first been and nodded, "Come in!"

The first person to enter was the security guard at the front desk. He had behind him a woman with a considerably strong energy signature, and from the silhouette, he could tell she was a demon. She had ears. Not just any ears either, glistening ears. They shimmered like gold, glowing yellow. "Mr. Minamino, this is Kane, she's the new Technologies Specialist Hakun Corp has sent over to work with our department."

They stepped into his office and he got a better look at the girl. She had a fire-red tail, but bright gold ears, and long blonde or gold hair. He couldn't really tell. All he knew was she was a mix of colors, a spirit fox, and staring right at him with a smile.

He felt his cheeks burn as he got to his feet and tugged the hem of his jacket down, "It's nice to meet you, ah, Ms. Kane?"

"If you'd like a last name I'm from the Lee tribe. You can use that. I prefer to be called Kane though." She offered her hand, palm up to the light so he could see she had no sedative or concealed weapon in it.

"Alright then, Ms. Kane it is," he chuckled nervously and took her hand, giving it a hearty shake, "I'm Shuichi Minamino."

"Mr. Zekrom was telling me you would be introducing me around the building?" Kane shook his hand firmly and let go focusing on the security man who waited with a hand propped on his walkie talkie.

"Yes, I will be walking you around and introducing you to everyone." He nodded and folded his hands in front of himself, "It's good to get a feel for things in a place as large as this."

"And what is your position here Mr. Minamino?" She sounded uncertain of his name.

"I'm the Customer Service Operator, a bit of a manager." He smiled.

"I see," She nodded.

"Mr. Zekrom, I thank you for showing her here," Kurama smiled at the man and nodded.

He nodded back, "Of course Mr. Minamino. If you need anything you know where I'll be." He left after that.

"Before we begin, are there any outstanding questions?"

"About what exactly?" Kane asked skeptically.

"About anything really," He shrugged.

"The building layout is pretty straight forward. I'm here to help improve technology, and encourage energy development in technology use to better preserve the batteries humans are using. For that I have to show up daily at my place of work by eight."

"Uh huh," He nodded, "Well, if you don't have any questions-"

"I do have one actually. Why am I with a Customer Service Manager rather than the manager of the department I'll be working with?"

"I'm the son of Mr. Hatanaka, so I tend to do these kind of things, it's one of my side jobs if you will."

She nodded, "Alright. Will I be meeting him today?"

"My step-father?"

"Yes, of course."

"We will probably run into him," He smiled, "Are you ready to begin?"

"Yes." She pulled open the door for him.

Kurama took a deep breath and made his way out, waiting for her in the hall. The two met several people down the hall briefly before they moved on to a different part of the building. He made a point of showing her the specifics of the layout, and they slowly made their way down a long hall, "My younger step-brother works in this area. You'll probably run into him, he's sort of the social butterfly of the place, he knows everything and anything."

"You have a younger brother as well as both parents?"

"My biological father is dead." Kurama offered.

"Oh, I see. So step-father means something else? What does the 'step' mean?"

"He's not actually related to me, he just married my biological mother."

"I see. So your younger brother isn't actually your blood brother, he's just the son of your step-father?"

"Yes, exactly." Kurama nodded, "Speak of the devil," he chuckled as they came upon the younger man.

Kokota grinned as he came up slouching in his business suit, "Well if it isn't Mr. Aaaah! Kurama! Out on another tour."

Kurama's face fell, "Kokota, you know how I feel about that."

"Yes, I know, I know, but I've got to check if it's true. I mean, how rad would that be to have an older brother who can make people scream on sight?"

Kurama rolled his eyes, "This is Ms. Kane."

"Nice to meet you. So, Ms. Kane," he air quoted, "Is my brother a demon?"

"He is not. If he were a demon he wouldn't have a heart-beat and he does."

Kurama caught his sigh of relief in his throat and nodded.

"Seriously? Demons don't have hearts?"

"Oh no, we have hearts," Kane tapped where her heart was, "but they beat much slower than humans because our blood pressure is regulated by our energy rather than our heartbeat and oxygen levels."

"About once every five minutes." Kurama offered before he blinked a few times and laughed nervously, "I heard that from a story I read once."

"Yes, it's true." Kane confirmed.

"So, I'm not a demon. Besides, isn't it more rad to have a super amazing human older brother?"

"Eh, I'm not so sure about that. I was looking forward to telling all my friends that my brother was a demon for real."

Kane opened her mouth to comment, but shut it again and watched Kurama.

"Honestly Kokota, I don't know why you're so fascinated by this."

"Well if you were, then we could've had a demon working here for years."

"I'm not a demon."

"In what cases would I have to speak with you Mr. Hatanaka?" Kane asked interrupting their bickering to get back on focus.

"Oh! Well with your position I'll need to work with you to understand the currency system and develop a billing method between the two companies. I'll come steal you when it's least convenient and give you back when everything's done. Don't worry. I'll be an absolute nuisance."

Kurama laughed, "No hitting on the older demon ladies." He teased.

Kane frowned, glancing between the two of them. "Alright."

Kokota laughed as well and grinned, "Yeah yeah, sexual harassment, I understand."

"What is..." Kane frowned and looked to Kurama.

"Hitting on? It's sort of coming on to someone, and certain young men have a bad habit-"

"Coming on someone? As in ejaculating on their skin?"

Kurama flushed a bright red, "No! No, no, as in hardcore flirting."

"Hard core, so they have, stiff core muscles while wooing people?" She patted her stomach. Kokota laughed and clapped his leg as he did so.

He just stared at her, unamused, "No."

"And what is Sexual Harassment?"

"Like if I were to suddenly start touching you, or flirting with you and not really caring to stop when you asked me to."

"What a strange concept." Kane studied him.

"Only I tend to touch Kokota, Mother, and Father, but that's because we're family. It's unwanted sexual attention, so if someone tells you to stop doing something, and you don't, it's harassment."

"Yeah, I'll get you some paperwork on it that you'll have to sign for us before we can officially hire you and that explains all of that." Kokota waved her off.

"And security can deal with extreme situations of sexual harassment." Kurama offered.

"Those men at the door were very weak though. Even Mr. Hatanaka here has stronger spiritual energy than they did."

Kurama shook his head, "They are trained to take care of tense situations."

"I'm not sure I understand, but I'm sure you have work to do, and you too Mr. Hatanaka, so let's continue on?"

"Yes," Kurama nodded and patted Kokota on the shoulder as he passed him, "Be good!"

"Aye, aye, Kurama." Kokota grinned wildly and darted off before Kurama could snag him.

Kurama sighed heavily and barked, "My name is Shuichi!" He shook his head and led Kane down the hall to two offices close to each other. He glanced in one and smiled, "Father."

"Ah! Shuichi, good morning. Is this the new recruit?" The old pot-bellied man stood and came around the desk holding out his hand warmly.

"Yes, Ms. Kane."

"Mr. Hatanaka, it is nice to finally meet you in person." She smiled and shook his hand warmly. She stepped up from Kurama's side and he could see her tail swishing more of a happy twitch than a wag.

"It's nice to meet you too Kane. I've been eager to get my eyes on you for a while." He winked at her and they laughed.

"Same," she winked back.

Kurama rolled his eyes, "Father, I was wondering if you could talk to Kokota about the 'Kurama' thing." He requested quietly.

"Nonsense, nonsense," Kazuya waved him off. "Your brother deserves to poke some fun at you and it just happens to be the same nickname that your friends have for you, just leave it be."

"Father, it's making me uncomfortable."

"Then find something to make him uncomfortable back. You're too tight-necked Shuichi, you've got to learn to take a joke."

"Speaking of, that man who saw him was positively petrified by the time he got back. He never really managed to fill me in."

"It doesn't matter." Kurama sighed.

"Well, when Toui brought Taka into Shuichi's office, he just, screamed, pointed, and continued to scream. He kept saying 'it's him, it's him, it's Kurama, it's Youko Kurama' and freaking out until Shuichi, apparently, got up and started approaching him to try to calm him down, and then he bolted."

"Toui the security guard?"

Kazuya nodded. "The very same."

"I see. He must have thought that your son was a spirit fox like I am because of his red hair and soft features."

"At least he didn't call me a female," Kurama chuckled.

"Well you could've been," Kane chuckled. "I mean, if you were actually a spirit fox, you could've picked."

"That's odd," Kurama frowned, "I think I'd choose male though."

"Yeah?" Kane took a deep breath and sighed in relief. "Well, I'm glad to finally have a familiar voice." She patted Kazuya's hand, "I think I just have your lovely wife to meet, the one who I've heard so much about, and then I can head back to the lab."

"She's the next office over. I'm surprised she didn't come over." Kurama mused.

"You're surprised who didn't come over?" An older woman with grey long hair leaned against the office door watching Kane and Kazuya closely. "So you're the woman who's been stealing my husband's heart." It was playful but chiding all the same.

Kane's eyes lit up, "My, my, I see why you say male is better Mr. Minamino."

"Hey," Kurama grumbled, "Don't insult Mother," he approached her and offered his arms to the woman.

"Oh she's gorgeous, I'd change genders to have her on my arm." Kane beat him to it, with a grin.

Shiori laughed and smacked at Kane's arm familiarly before taking it and swaying into the room to her husband. Kane released her to the man and smiled softly, "It's nice to finally meet you Mrs. Minamino-Hatanaka."

"God this is awkward." Kurama sighed heavily.

"Oh don't be like that Shuichi, she's just being complimentary. Kane has been our main liaison from their company since we started this project. She's the Head Technician over there. Originally we weren't supposed to have her come until much later in the program when our technicians were nearly caught up. She was sending over an assistant tech which is who you met yesterday, but when that went so poorly, well, why did you come yourself?"

"I didn't know what the situation was, and I wanted to make sure that there wasn't some bloodthirsty monster in your midst who was going to cause trouble for our company cooperation." Kane shrugged, "I'm the strongest on my team, so if there was a problem, I could probably deal with it, so I came myself."

Kurama slipped to lean against the doorframe.

"And what's your conclusion?" Shiori giggled.

"No bloodthirsty monster, just, a very, well organized business, with lots of protection in place."

"That's good," Kurama smiled.

"Very. So, I do have quite a bit of work to do with your team, which I really should get moving on. We're burning daylight, so I'll go join them and do some hardcore catching up, and hit on all the difficult points quickly before another company makes a come on our idea."

"So you're going to be catching up with your stomach muscles tensed?" Kurama teased Kane.

Kane smirked and her tail swished lazily, "Why yes. I am. Your scientists are all pretty weak right now, they're going to need to strengthen up their spirit energy in order to properly test this, unless, you happen to know someone who would make a good test subject, maybe you?"

Kurama laughed, "Don't be ridiculous. I wouldn't make a good test subject."

"Aww, look at them, they're flirting."

"In geekeneese," Kazuya chuckled.

Kurama rolled his eyes, "I would make a good test subject for some things, but that particular subject."

"Regardless of how it happened, you have strong spirit energy, Mr. Minamino, but I have to agree. You're a bit too strong to simulate the test subjects we need."

"Good, I wouldn't want to do it anyways." He smirked.

"Can we go and meet the science team again so I can get to work with them?"

"Of course," Kurama stepped away from the doorframe and took a moment to hug Shiori tightly.

"It was very nice to meet you in person Kane. Don't be a stranger. Give me a call or come visit if you need anything." Kazuya shook Kane's hand before letting her leave, and as Kurama said goodbye to Kazuya, Shiori said goodbye to Kane. Kurama delivered her to the scientists, stuck around for a little bit of the explanations, and then left after she was settling into an exercise with them to test the sensitivities needed for equipment.

* * *

Kurama didn't talk to her again for a week. At first it was relief the Fox felt and he managed to get a night of sleep snuggled next to Hiei, and then the stark realization hit him that she probably knew who he was. He didn't sleep after that thought came to mind, and it didn't help that Hiei left that night to go hire an assistant. So he gathered his losses and spent a few hours sitting on the edge of the tub with the water going as he mulled over how it would change his human life if Shiori actually believed everything. In the end, he went to bed a wet, drippy mess. The shower didn't help him sleep.

Kane talked to him like he was a demon. He didn't know how obvious it was to anyone else, but she threw out the name of her tribe like he'd understood what it meant, and he did. She inquired to him rather than the other humans the day he'd walked her around, and that was understandable, but it still made his mind race. And he knew, he knew she was not that stupid not to know what some of the things were that he'd explained to her. If she was, he'd have to fire her when her stupidity finally showed through. So either she was really that stupid and he was too blind to see it, or she was playing with him, like a real fox.

He had to know for sure. If she was just playing with him, and he only now noticed, it was because he'd dismissed it as playing when it happened, which just further confirmed that he was what she thought. Either that, or he was a very low key human, but then there was the discussion about his energy, so why was it that she had said he was human? She had said it without hesitation, even mentioned his heart, which indicated a clear method to scientifically prove it was true, and it was, but, not on an energy level. It was only true biologically, and then, only in his functions, not performance.

When dawn finally came he dragged himself out of bed and managed to get dressed and tame his hair. He sighed heavily and found his suitcase and jacket. On the way, he couldn't help but wonder if Hiei had found what he was looking for, but he tucked the thought away as he came to the building. It seemed darker today. He pulled open the door and stepped inside. The secretary wasn't at her desk, but an off-hand security agent was. It was the weekend agent. Kurama sighed heavily, realizing his mistake, but continued on, and slowly made his way down to the lab where he felt Kane's energy signature.

When he got to the lab, she had the door locked to the private lab they'd set up for her testing, and he had to knock to get her to open it. She did so once she had a chance to check and see who it was. "Mr. Minamino," She stepped back allowing him into the room and went back to fiddling with a tracker which picked up small spikes in spirit energy that was attached to a light. Despite being pointed at a mouse, it wasn't going off.

"I'd like to ask you a couple of important questions," Kurama closed the door, leaning against it.

Her ears flipped back, "What is it?" She gently massaged her energy into the wires as she manipulated them in the tiny machine with tweezers.

"Do you know what I am?"

"Yes." Kane glanced up as the light flickered a little bit, then went out once the mouse, not a foot away, startled to the other side of it's small cage.

"Do you know who I am?"

"I wasn't sure before I came, but yes." The light went off again despite the mouse not moving and Kane looked up at him. "Mr. Minamino."

Kurama nodded and felt the tension leave his shoulders, and pulled his energy back in tightly, "You won't tell anyone." It was supposed to be a question.

"No. I have no intentions of compromising my work with The Hatanaka Corporation. Your family has created the most technologically advanced systems with the best ability to cultivate an interdimensional design for things like telephones, broadcasting, radio, and internet. These technologies would greatly improve the connectivity of Demon World if they were widely available and humans are constantly in surplus." She went back to tinkering with the sensor. "I just have to be in a stable, energy low environment to create a sensor sensitive enough to..." she fiddled with a wire, "pick up close low readings, and react to them. So far that's challenging. Your labbies dislike the idea of testing on them. Luckily, this mouse has about the same amount of energy as their arm."

"Huh, well," Kurama sighed, "I'll be going to write a few emails."

"That's all I get? A huh? It took me three days to figure out how to quantify the amount of energy in a human limb and all I get is huh." She was muttering to herself, her tail flipping as she focused in on her mechanism again.

"What would you like, Vixen?" Kurama clamped a hand over his mouth. He did not.

"Oh, I don't know, Mr. Minamino. Maybe an edict to help my testing with some fingers that aren't practically radioactive with energy. Surely you can order one person to assist me. Maybe that cute little youngster, the one who comes up with sexual harassment charges." She paused and leaned to one hip holding the tweezers away. "That really is an ingenious idea by the way, sexual harassment." She smiled up at him, "I haven't had a single man feel me up since I've been here. It's marvelous."

"Yeah, well, humans have moral codes." Kurama shrugged, "I can ask Kokota to briefly assist you, uh, yes."

"Well demons do too, 'the strong are smart' is definitely a moral code and not a nature's law. We believe the man is the best who is the strongest," she focused back in on her machine again, her tail swishing about lazily, brushing her leg as it flicked, "but in reality, a lot of weak people are just as smart as the strong, and a lot of strong people are just as dumb as the weak."

"That's true." Kurama nodded and rubbed his head, "Well, congratulations on your finds Ms. Kane, and I'll ask Kokota to help you."

"Thank you. I should have this ready in a day or two. I'm just, tampering with the design. I want to build a simple light switch that will be operated by an energy battery rather than lithium, or electricity to test the capacities that could have in powering devices."

"Thank you." Kurama smiled, "I'll be going now, I have a lot of work to do."

"Oh, I suppose I shouldn't talk your ear off, huh?" She laughed, "Alright, I'll release you. Hey, you wouldn't happen to have, something I could, talk things over with, would you? At home I would use my cat, but she didn't stay close enough during the travel, and I don't think the office would've approved anyway." She came over to him and leaned on a desk by the door watching him closely.

"We have telephones."

"No, no, I don't need a person on the other end, just, something with a face. It doesn't have to understand, I just, need something to bounce ideas. Something to explain things to. A thing, not a person."

"The mouse?"

She shrugged, "I suppose. Thank you Mr. Minamino," She smiled and went back to her work flicking down a magnifier and picking up a different tool. This one was not of human origin.

"Have a nice day Ms. Kane."

"You too."

Kurama left quickly, and once he was out of the room he let out a long sigh and relaxed as he made his way up to his office.


	2. Chapter 2 The Mistress

It took a long trip back to Mukuro's moving city to find the woman he really wanted to play the part. He stopped at every town, and when he was nearly all the way there, with the search going nowhere fast, he decided to stop and let it get some ground before he continued on again. He decided after some quick calculations, he'd need three days to get ten more cities in before meeting up, so he hunkered down in the local tavern, and settled at the back of the building watching the women come in and who they came with.

Eventually, one of the women who had come in after him approached. She had crimson locks like the Fox, and a similar light in her eyes as she came up to him, "What're you doing? Watching the women." She had purple eyes that caught the light and lit up to a soft violet, and with the way she had her hair up in a large bun, he could guess her hair went down to at least her waist.

She hadn't caught his attention when she first walked in. She'd been with two men who seemed to know her, one pulling out a stool for her, the other having opened the door, but now, he saw the men off away from where they pulled out her stool, talking among themselves, and she was here, in front of him. It was intriguing to hear her tone too. She had a voice like cherry, dark, but rich. "You know what I'm doing. I'm watching the women. You said so yourself."

She smirked at him, "Of course you're a smart ass. Why are you watching the women?"

"I'm looking for a potential girlfriend."

She laughed, "Really? Well, in this tavern you're just going to get whores mostly."

"No, I don't want to have sex. I just need to hire a girlfriend for a couple months, discreetly."

"Yeah? What are you paying?"

"Hn. I'm still looking."

She crossed her arms, "Uh huh, you have fun with that, I'm going to wait until you come and tell me how much you're paying."

Hiei watched her leave, still curious about the woman, but unwilling to negotiate just yet. He didn't need someone as pretty as her. She'd charge him quite a bit and he was not going to pay up front. Plus, the relocation would cost him if she was relocating somewhere that had no respect for her like this place did. She was clearly respected or those men wouldn't have known her.

As the day passed on, and the next, and the next, he was beginning to recognize that this wasn't just a woman who was respected, she was well loved. By the third day he'd never once seen her open a door herself. That alone intrigued him because this wasn't a gentle town. Just in the first day he'd seen twelve fresh dead bodies around town, and heard the screams of women and men alike during the night. It was a typical demon oasis, lots of blood, but here, no one touched her.

By the third day he wasn't watching other women. He couldn't help himself but watch her, and her alone. The more he considered her confidence, the more he wondered, what did she do? How had she gotten the respect he had seen? It was almost like everyone was simultaneously thankful and afraid of her. She had to have done something strong. He couldn't pinpoint what she was either. She was something unique, something old, something, almost scary to the very fiber of his being. It was like sitting on a needle wedged between his cheeks so if he moved one way or the other, he'd get stabbed.

Hiei approached her, "You'd have to relocate with me. I'm on Mukuro's Border Patrol." He leaned against the bar focused on her.

"Oh, really?" She grinned, "Wow, aren't you special?" She nodded.

Yes, he was, he was very special, but she didn't need to know that. "You'd be traveling with me for however long it would take to convince the woman seeking me to back off. I'd rather not use force with her if I can avoid it, and your job would be that chance to avoid it."

"Uh huh. So what do I get in return?" She ran a hand over her braid, and patted her bun a bit, like she was trying to look nicer.

He really wished she would stop fussing with it though, it didn't improve her looks in the least. She still had messy hair. "In return you'll get access and boarding rights to Mukuro's caravan, food and quarters with me, and spending money during the job. I can't pay you outright because I cannot be seen paying my girlfriend for being, well, my girlfriend. That would break the image."

She laughed and quicker than he could pull back she popped him a kiss on the lips, "Alright! I can do that."

Hiei frowned and cleaned off his mouth. "Good. We're about twenty days behind." He pulled out a coin purse and paid his tab, then picked up hers as well.

She laughed again, "That's alright."

"Are you fast?"

"As fast as you are."

"Do you know me?" Hiei frowned, that was not a convenient start. Maybe that was why she came over to him.

She smirked and shook her head, "You're awfully cute, but I don't know who you are, but I'm not a typical demon myself."

"Alright, let's get moving." He left the bar expecting her to follow. She let him walk a few feet away before she hurried forward and touched his shoulders, and disappeared.

Hiei spun around, looking for her, but the more he looked, the more he didn't see her. He went back into the bar checking for her there. That was when people started moving away from him and the two men she'd been with glanced at Hiei and chuckled.

"Where is she?" he demanded lurking up to the man. He was ready to draw his sword and start chopping heads at this point.

"Look at your shadow."

Hiei stiffened. He remembered Itsuki's pet, and hearing that startled him more than he could have thought. He spun away from the light and stared down at the floor, only to see her purple eyes looking up from the dark shadow.

"I see." He relaxed and nodded. He couldn't help the smirk, "You can move as fast as I can because you can make my shadow like Uratoko."

A line appeared like she was smirking.

Hiei nodded, "Alright. We'll travel quickly then." Hiei left the bar again, but this time, didn't hesitate to dart off, unafraid of the shifts of his shadow. It was unlikely she wouldn't have some stability to the space she had in there considering what he'd seen before with shadow monsters. Whatever she was, she had the ability to stay alive in there, and that meant he could go without concern. He didn't stop until he saw the dust start rising from the bug close by, and then, it was only for a short break to refuel his energy before hopping aboard and descending to his room.

When he was settled down, she reappeared with her hands on his shoulders and sighed, "Wow, you're fast."

"Hn. So what are you?"

"I'm a shadow demon."

That was probably the dumbest question he'd ever asked. It was obvious she could manipulate shadows and thus, it was really obvious there would be a demon equivalent. Shadow demon should have been the first thing he considered calling her, but instead, it hadn't even crossed his mind. He didn't think demon would enter the name at all, sort of like spirit fox, but instead, here she was, just a demon, just like spirit foxes were, just like he was, just like ice apparitions were, but shadow demon actually had demon in the name. Reasonably named too considering her powers. "I see. My name is Hiei." He turned to look the woman over as he announced his news.

"Now I think I know who you are," She let go of his shoulders and nodded, "You control the Dragon."

He held up his bandaged hand, "Guilty as charged."

She laughed and nodded, "I'm Vena."

"And what is it you did in that village to earn such, respect?"

"I trapped the vicious people in shadows, the ones who'd murder without reason. The village was overrun with them after the tournament so I just kind of did them a service."

"I see."

"So Dragon, what're the rules?"

"What?" He frowned and looked down at his arm then back at her. "I don't, talk for the dragon. It's just, connected to me. It's dormant most of the time until I call upon it. It hides wherever it is out there," he pointed out towards Demon World. "When I call, it channels through me. That's all."

"It's a nickname. Boyfriend and girlfriend normally have nicknames for each other. I have a similar companion."

"Oh, okay, so I have to give you a nickname as well?"

"If you'd like."

"We'll see. Rules," he frowned, considering that. "Don't kill me." He held up a finger and continued to think. "Don't kill any of the seventy seven in Mukuro's group. You can torment, them, lock them in a shadow, whatever, but don't, kill them or put them somewhere they can't get out from if you let them."

She nodded, and glanced around, waiting.

Hiei glanced around as well. The only art he had in the place aside from a group picture, happened to be swords on the walls. "Don't touch my weapons." He pointed at them. He really didn't care about the rest of it so he dropped his fingers, "That should be everything."

"I meant girlfriend-boyfriend rules, but, those are good to know."

"I don't, have any in mind. The Fox told me I should get a girlfriend to get Mukuro off my back about mating. I don't want to mate with her. She's not attractive to me, but she won't leave me alone about it. The last time we had a meeting she was naked and I would rather not keep trying her strength against mine."

"Well, do you care if I touch you?"

"That depends on where. I might skewer you if it's sudden, but that's reflexes."

"Well I'd only ever touch like, your shoulders, your waist, chest, stomach maybe, your leg," she shrugged.

Hiei sighed and shook his head, "I want Mukuro off my back. If that would help you achieve that ends, then so be it."

"Well, I'd suggest we sleep in the same bed." Vena offered.

"I agree. People in relationships smell like one another and currently I smell like the Fox. He won't accept the position though. I asked." Hiei shook his head. "He's an idiot sometimes despite his reputation. It would have been easy to pass him off as my boyfriend."

"Alright. Well," she shrugged, "I don't know what else to suggest."

"We'll talk about it if it comes up then." Hiei nodded. He pulled out a second bag and filled it with enough money to spend on trinkets and food as needed and tossed it to her. "As promised, spending money."

She grinned and stuffed into her pants pocket, "Thank you Dragon." She chuckled.

He still wasn't sure how to respond to that. "If you run off with that and don't do your job I will hunt you down and kill you, and I have a friend who could get into your shadow world, so don't think I can't get to you there."

"I'm staying here, you're pretty cute."

The door popped open and Mukuro strode in loudly, "Hiei! You should have re-connected with base nearly a week ago but you've been trailing behind on purpose as obvious by your current conduct and placement! What is the meaning behind this!" She was pointing at him as she stormed forward.

Hiei glared, "I had to collect someone."

"Collect someone? Who?" She looked around the room, skimming right over Vena. "I don't see anyone here."

"Hello." Vena barked.

"Don't be a bitch about this Mukuro. You want to know why it's impossible for me to ever sleep with you, well she's just said hello."

"She? She!"

Maybe the fox had been right. A woman would work better to convince a woman that it was futile. Clearly Mukuro was having a hard time adjusting to the fact that he could date a woman who wasn't her. "Yes, she."

"I knew you weren't interested in me Hiei, but I never imagined you'd go to, to some other woman." Mukuro frowned when she finally looked Vena over. "She looks like me, same hair color."

"Well he did!" Vena approached Hiei and rubbed a hand across his abs, "Tch, we do not have the same hair color. I have crimson red hair and you have some kind of orange-red hair."

Mukuro frowned, "See? We both have red hair." She nodded.

"Orange." Vena shook her finger, "Your hair isn't true red darling."

"Darling? I am not your darling you slimeball," Mukuro growled her energy spiking and slipping through the walls making strings which could cut them to shreds if they moved an inch.

Hiei grabbed Vena's arm holding her back. "Sweetheart," he tried to get her attention.

"Oh, slimeball? And here I thought you'd call me a cocksucker because that's what I am."

"I doubt it. He would never give you a cock to suck so if you are sucking cock, it's not because you're his girlfriend, it's because you're a cheating whore." Mukuro folded her arms across her chest, satisfied.

"You're just in denial." Vena rolled her eyes.

"Mukuro, stop this nonsense now," Hiei reached out to touch one of the strings. Mukuro snapped to attention before he did and released most of them. He maneuvered between the two women. "I am dating Vena here. You'll either accept that, or I'll never meet with you in private again. She will always be with me. After I stormed off, I told her what happened and she agreed it was time for her to come make her presence known so you wouldn't think I was unclaimed. She already has my heart, so there's nothing for you to take."

Mukuro sighed huffily and glared at the woman. "I doubt it Hiei, but I can see you're acting out and I respect that you don't want me nude at meetings. However, you're being stupid saying this stranger to you is your woman. She's clearly not that familiar with you, with how she's misbehaving."

"Misbehaving?" Vena demanded.

"Vena, she's trying to rile you up Honey."

"Of course she is."

"You know I don't want you eating her." He admonished gently. "Remember? We talked about that? That's why you haven't been here before? I knew you two would get in a fight and I'd end up without the politician for all that crazy delegate stuff?"

"I remember," She sighed heavily.

"Good, because I need her intact to go talk to Enki about our plans. Mukuro I need time to get Vena settled in," He pointed at the door.

Mukuro glared at him, "I don't like this Hiei. You shouldn't have a stranger masquerading as your girlfriend."

"She's not masquerading! She's my girlfriend!"

Mukuro shook her head, "Maybe she is, maybe she isn't, but you know I don't like this and that's what I'm sticking to."

"Either way, goodbye," Vena waved her off.

"This isn't over!" Mukuro left the apartment.

Hiei sighed, "As you can see." he shook his head and moved closer to the woman again. "You've got to keep alert. Mukuro can make razor thin wires like a spider's web that slices you up rather than catches you."

"I'll keep that in mind." Vena nodded.

"Good."

"So," she glanced around, "Show me the apartment?"

Hiei looked about, "Uh, that's a closet," He pointed to one of the two doors in the large room. Basically the place had everything in the single room. The bed was tucked near the back, and at the foot of it were two doors. The one on the inside was the closet he indicated, "And that's the bathroom," the door on the far side was what he pointed to next. Towards the front of the room on the wall of the closet was a couch and table, while near the bed's side of the building, there was a kitchen that had everything but much more than a couple feet of counterspace. It didn't see much use even with the counter space.

The largest area was the bedroom area, which was marked off by a switch in levels. The floor was raised up a couple steps, and a carpet rather than the modulating rough leathery internal skin. It had a dresser on the far, caved out wall, and the bed with one side nearly against the stairs, and the other had a table with an alarm and the only photograph in the place.

Vena approached the bed and sat down, feeling the mattress before she rolled over onto it and kicked her feet up, "I can sleep on this."

"Heh, after enough hours awake, you could probably sleep on anything." Hiei pulled off his cloak and toed out of his boots, but joined her on the bed.

Vena threw her shoes off and undid her bun, "Yeah, that's true."

"If I wake up in Koenma's office, I'm going to tell Youko Kurama to hunt you down and kill you," he yawned and rolled onto his other side, putting his back to her.

"Why would I do that my lovable Dragon?" She rolled onto her side and wrapped an arm around his waist, snuggling up to his back, "You're so warm."

Hiei grunted in response and wrapped his arm under a pillow tucking his head back when he felt her breath tickle his neck. He did not like her so close, but he was tired. He'd been up for nearly twenty days straight with only brief naps, and he needed proper sleep.

* * *

Vena sat mostly alone in the mess hall on the bug, watching the few people that were there as she slowly munched on her lunch, just letting herself relax as she ate.

That was when she felt it, the strong, angry energy approaching her from the doorway. She looked up just in time to see Mukuro sneer in her general direction.

Vena just let her eyes follow the woman as she continued to eat.

When Mukuro reached her, she crossed her arms and glared, "You are not welcome here woman. Leave."

"Sorry, but I am." Vena waved her off.

"I am the ultimate authority here! What I say goes, now get out of my city."

"I don't care if you're my mother."

Mukuro grabbed the table with Vena's food and ripped it away from her, the whole longtable, nearly spinning it into the next one as she pushed Vena and the other demons eating there aside with the swing of the table.

Vena smacked into the ground hard, but it didn't phase her. She popped back up and found her plate, "I didn't know that table didn't work there, I thought it looked pretty nice myself."

"Damn it woman you're leaving Hiei alone! I don't know who you are, or why he thought he needed to hire you, but I know you were not in his life before."

"He didn't hire me." Vena waved her off with her utensil.

"Well he didn't know you," Mukuro growled slamming her hands down on the table making Vena's plate pop.

Vena grunted, "You're just a jealous bitch. Go and mope elsewhere, I don't have time to watch you mope."

"I'm not moping I'm defending my territory and you, are an invader. He did not know you, he couldn't have known you. If he had a girlfriend before, he would have said so when I first approached him."

"Well guess what?" She snapped, "He can meet new people, he's not some dog you can keep on a leash and pull around."

"He wouldn't start a relationship that fast," Mukuro growled lowly.

"How do you know it hasn't been going on for a while? Huh? Does he tell you every little thing?"

"He's not the type to quickly form relationships and you, are not his type. His precious fox is more his type than you are."

"You can't define what is Hiei's anything is. You're not some kind of god, you're another apparition."

"I'm the closest thing he has to a friend here, and none of the others have heard of you either. Before recently, no one has even heard the name Vena. You're not his material."

"Neither are you." Vena smirked.

"I don't care about that at this point," Mukuro shook her head. "He's made his point. He's willing to risk his life to make it, and I understand, but you, you do not belong!"

"How about you go rant to a wall? It might actually have sympathy for how you're feeling."

Mukuro was fuming at that point. She launched herself forward at Vena, but when she would have connected, Vena slipped backwards into a shadow on the floor. She didn't reappear.

* * *

Hiei jumped when he felt Vena suddenly appear in his room. He spun searching for her, and spotted her with a plate of food in her hand.

"Mukuro side swiped me with a table." She offered.

"I'm surprised she didn't kick you through the ceiling." Hiei nodded approvingly.

"I think she was about to, but I disappeared before she could."

"Good. It'd be difficult to keep you alive if one of those connected." He turned his back on her again and began pulling out more expired food. He'd had to give her money for the food court because, apparently, food expired. He'd never had that problem before. This was his first experience storing food for long periods of time. All the other years of his life someone else did it, or, he just killed and ate whatever he could find at the time.

"Yeah, probably. She doesn't like me at all," Vena chuckled.

"Understandable, she knows me pretty well." Hiei sighed, "I'm surprised it worked honestly. I never expected she'd believe me enough to actually back off."

"She's still a bit skeptical," Vena said around a mouth of food.

"She spoke to you, therefore she's not skeptical, she's just trying to get you to admit that you're not actually my girlfriend. You don't know her like I do."

Vena shrugged, "Yeah, that's true. The chefs here are really good by the way."

"Hn." Hiei tossed another couple of things and started on the freezer.

Vena finished her plate and came over to him, gently touching his back.

Hiei glanced over his shoulder, but even in the short time together, he'd come to enjoy her touches. At first, they'd made his skin crawl. He wasn't used to it, and any contact was a foreign problem to him, but after sleeping in her arms, or with her in his arms, it started to become more natural that she'd touch him whenever she was close so he wouldn't back into her, and so she could give him pleasure with massages.

"I have a feeling a lot of this food isn't good," She offered quietly.

"You mean I should just throw all of it out?"

"Maybe," She picked up one of the things and opened the package, "This is freezer burnt." She tossed it and grabbed another food item, "This should be alright."

Hiei sighed and stepped away so she could go through it quicker.

In a few minutes she was finished sorting it and closed the door, "Alright, that's done."

"Are you, still willing to stay?"

"Hell yeah, I haven't had this much fun in a long time!"

Hiei smirked. He was beginning to really like this girl. It was dangerous, but spending all the time he did with her, it was also inevitable. She came with him on patrols, to meetings, and out into the shopping district when necessary. From what he'd seen, she quickly socialized in a way that actually earned her respect without some large show of power. He was beginning to earn more respect as a man who could "pick them" whatever that meant, and he enjoyed the power shift.

Men were also treating him differently, like they'd always assumed he would be attracted to him on some level, and now they were opening up. He didn't like that because he didn't want to deal with the idiots, but it was interesting to watch. When Vena was around, she was able to socialize with them either opened or closed with ease, which took the pressure off.

"So, now Dragon, what do we do?"

"Go buy healthy food." He felt his chest warm at the name she'd given him, and his tongue spill his plan before his mouth considered it.

"That sounds like a great idea." She chuckled.

Hiei toed into his boots and slipped his cloak on knowing his shadow would follow at her own gradual pace. Vena touched his shoulder and nodded, smiling.

Hiei left the apartment and headed for the fresh market. It was a noisy busy place he often loathed going to, but with Vena around, it gave him a mediator who was actually very good at the job, and they were able to buy what they needed for the two of them for the same price as it had taken for him to just get what he almost wanted.


	3. Chapter 3 Welcome Home

Kurama woke up to a poke and he jerked, rolling onto the other side of the bed, grabbing his pillow before he realized that Shiori was the one who had done it, and he relaxed instantly. He glanced at the clock, it was late morning, but he'd slept so wonderfully he almost wanted to tell her to get out so he could go back to sleep, "Mm, Mother. What brings you here?"

"I expected you to be in your garden when you didn't answer your door, but you weren't there so I came in with the spare key to find you sleeping." She pulled out the computer chair and sat beside his bed staring at him.

"I haven't slept well these past few nights, I finally caught up a bit."

"I see. Does this have to do with your heritage?"

"What?" He frowned, "I don't think we have any sleep disorders in the family Mother," he yawned, "Man I wish Hiei was here."

"Perhaps, but you're, not, you're actually what they say you are, aren't you?"

"What now?" Kurama stared at her with half lidded eyes.

Shiori sighed, "Shuichi, you've always been special, and you always will be my son, but these accusations about you being a demon aren't false."

"What makes you say that Mother? I'm just your son." He nuzzled into his pillow.

"I met with someone recently who knows energy powers, and they said you're not just a human, but while you have your human powers, they're muted, and mostly, you've got very strong, very old, demon powers."

"Maybe I'm possessed by a demon," he offered quietly.

"No son, you're not. If you were possessed by a demon you would be acting differently from when you were little. Instead, you do everything you can to be a perfect son, which doesn't fit with you being a demon, but doesn't match up with you being human either. Sons aren't perfect."

"I'm just the perfect son I guess," Kurama shifted under his blankets, and yawned again, "Mother, I don't think this is the best time to talk to me I'm very tired."

She sighed and stood. "Fine, but you will explain this to me Shuichi."

"Mother, wait," Kurama pushed himself up and gathered the blankets into his lap, hugging the pillow to his chest. He'd only partially comprehended what she had said, "What were you saying?"

"I know you're a strong man Shuichi. I know you've got unexplained powers, demonic energy."

"Of course I'm a strong man, if I wasn't Hiei wouldn't like me as much as he does."

"You're a demon. I don't know how, but I intend to find out. You're my son and I love you, but clearly you're keeping things from me. Your energy is demonic."

Kurama squeezed his pillow tight, his breath quickening a little, but he just shifted and took his mind off of it, pressing the pillow to his hips, "Mm, the only reason they said that is because I knew powerful people, and I'm friends with powerful people. Just like I was saying Hiei likes me because I'm strong? Well, same thing."

"But Yusuke and Kuwabara are humans, aren't they? They look so human."

Kurama shrugged, "Yusuke isn't, he was."

"You mean to tell me he changed?"

"Yes Mother," Kurama rubbed the pillow like he was caressing someone's back.

"Did you… did you change?"

"No Mother." Kurama felt his muscles tense up and pushed the pillow down again to distract himself momentarily, "I didn't change."

"You didn't?"

He nodded, nuzzling into his pillow.

She sighed and nodded, "Alright, fine, but honestly Shuichi, one of these days we are going to talk about this for real, when you're not, not so tired, and I want the honest truth about what happened to you." She stood and caressed his cheek with a soft smile.

"Nothing happened to me Mother."

She tutted her tongue at him, "The truth."

Kurama just glanced up at her, "I'm still the same person I was yesterday, and the day before, I'm the same person I've been these twenty four years."

"But during your life you've had a lot of problems you left me out of, like how Yusuke became a demon, when you met Hiei, all of it. I want to know." She took his hand in hers and smiled weakly.

"Yusuke is related to a demon, and his demon blood just woke up." Kurama offered.

She sighed, "Shuichi, we'll do this later. I can see you're going to need some time to adjust to telling me the truth."

"No, it's true. That's really how it happened Mother. When I met Hiei? When I was twelve. He tried to slice me in half."

"He tried to what?" Her eyes shot open wide.

"It's no big deal," He shrugged, "Hiei tries to slice everyone in half."

"Do you see? Do you see what I mean! You had a boy trying to cut you in half and you didn't feel like it was something worth mentioning to me. I care about you Shuichi, I really do and I want to hear about your life, whatever it was, however it desensitized you to it."

"Mother, it's alright, Hiei and I are best of friends now," He smiled, "He even slept with me, er, like," he frowned, "Not sex, he just slept beside me the other day."

Shiori sighed and shook her head watching him critically like she was trying to make some huge decision.

Kurama pushed his blankets and pillow off his lap and stood, tugging the hem of his shirt down, glancing briefly at his hips to make sure he was decent, "It's alright Mother."

"I'm not sure it is Shuichi. I don't like all of this cloak and dagger." She cupped his cheek and tried to smile again.

He shook his head, "I've always been the same person Mother, and I will always be your son."

"Always." She kissed his forehead. "Now then, I'm going to get out of here so you can get on with your day."

"Today is Sunday, would you like some tea?"

"No, I think not. Kazuya's waiting for me to finish this so we can go to a crafts show up north."

"Oh, that'll be fun," Kurama smiled, "I hope you have fun Mother."

She smiled for real this time, "Just, remember what I've said Shuichi, I want to know who you are, and what you are, and what's going on, I really do. I love you and you are my son, but I want to know what that means for you, so please, stop lying to me or I'll have to find other resources and I can find them. They're all around us."

"I'm Shuichi Minamino." He offered, "I love you Mother."

"I love you too Shuichi." She left.

* * *

Kurama sighed as he made his way down the sidewalk. He'd spent extra time in his office to answer a few important emails, and now he was walking as the sun just barely teased the sky with it's presence. He couldn't help but glance around. By now he was in his home eating dinner usually, but today he was walking home. He paused when he noticed the bright golden swish of hair, and his heart took a small leap when he spotted the tail. He hurried forward, and followed after her.

Kane was headed towards the residential buildings, but not a good part of town. It was more heavily laiden with apartment complexes and abandoned buildings than livable ones, and they quickly passed by the ones he would have considered adequate for her habitation.

Kurama considered catching up with her, but he was curious, and she hadn't felt him yet. She had her energy low, like she was concealing it, but not doing quite a good enough job from people close by. He hadn't noticed her until quite a bit after that usually would've but he'd still noticed her. That was why. She wasn't advertising herself. That made him even more curious.

Kane ducked under a swinging board and Kurama stopped dead in his tracks. On the other side of the fenced in area was a bridge that crossed under the freeway and he felt humans dotting the area, and could see the smoke from a couple of the dirt canisters where they slept. Now he understood why she was hiding, she wasn't actually living anywhere, she was living with the homeless.

He hurried forward, "Kane! Kane Lee!" He called as he ran a few steps to catch up quicker.

She paused when she heard her name and looked back at him, then frowned. She quickly made her way out of the area, slipping outside of the fenced in area with Kurama in toe. "What do you want?" it was a vicious question, aggressive and defensive.

"Kane," He frowned, "You… live here?"

"Yes, and I don't appreciate you stalking me to my home."

"I'm not stalking you, I just wanted to say hello. Why… How do you look so clean? You don't look homeless."

"I take baths," she rolled her eyes. "There are bath-houses scattered all over the city, I use those when they let me. Most of them won't let me in any longer. They say I shed too much."

He sighed heavily, "God, really? Look, how about you come home with me?"

Kane sighed, "Fine, but only because I can't seem to find anywhere to actually rent me space."

He chuckled, "Mm, they just don't know how wonderful foxes are." He teased.

"I think the real reason might be the fur, but perhaps." She sighed and caught her tail running her hand over it gently.

"Probably," he sighed, "Have you had dinner?"

She shook her head. "I was planning on going home for a meal soon, but I've been on a roll at work."

"I can cook you something good," he offered quietly, "A lot of people like my cooking so it shouldn't be too horrible."

"Well I'm sure it'll be better than what I have had since I've been here," She chuckled, "Kurama, I do have to ask, why didn't you kill my scientist?"

"Why? Seemed too much trouble."

"Too much trouble? He destroyed your cover as a human here. I mean, not that you aren't, but still."

"But him suddenly being dead would be suspicious."

Kane's ears flicked down for a moment, "Oh, I suppose you're right. I always forget humans don't kill so readily. I mean, my facility is well defended, well handled, but sometimes my scientists just don't come back if they leave the facility and that's the way of it."

"I guess the humans have made me soft in that respect," he smiled softly and started leading her back down the sidewalk, "They've made me soft in a lot of ways."

"Yes, your tailbone in that body has to be one of the most fragile things I've ever seen." She swished her tail pointedly.

He laughed, "It's actually quite useless."

"Quite, and those ribs of yours are so flimsy."

"Yes well, I was gifted with strong bones thanks to my genetics," he smiled, "For humans anyways."

"You mean, thanks to your alterations," she shook her head, "I haven't seen a single human here with natural red hair."

"Well, actually, red hair isn't common in Japan. If you go over to the States or Europe you'll see more redheads. I did alter my hair and make my bones a little stronger, but they were already a little tougher to begin with."

"When my scientist came back screaming about you being here, I didn't believe him because he was still alive, but I knew it had to be something, so I decided to come check it out myself. I didn't lie about that."

"Really he should've been smarter and not screamed."

"Well he is practically an intern at home. I just wanted someone to come explain the basics of energy and begin creating a device that can respond to touch, and since all humans have spirit energy, and when they touch things, that transfers, I figured it wouldn't matter how smart the person was who I sent, since it would be an impressive display no matter what." She sighed, "Unfortunately, you were here. We had to sedate him. I'm not sure if he's up yet."

He laughed, "Poor thing, he'll have nightmares for years."

"I can't imagine why, you're pleasant."

"Probably just all the stories."

Kane chuckled and watched her feet as they strolled. She wrapped her tail around her waist tucking her hands in her pockets, holding it between her body and arm. "You know, if they really are true, all the stories, I'm happy you've changed. It's hard to live a vicious life like that, and not the good type of hard. It would be a shame for one of us to do that to ourselves forever."

"Not all of them are true, but I'm sure a lot of them are." He shrugged, "Thank you, by the way, for that. I'm happy I've changed too, I find my life is full of a lot more meaning than it once was."

"Yes, as it should be. I heard rumored once, that you were a great biologist before you were a thief, is it true?"

He smiled, "That's true. Here in Human World I also got into science again, briefly, in high school. The only thing was my partners were desperate for girlfriends and wanted to use me as a lure for girls," he rolled his eyes, "Nerd violence."

Kane chuckled, "That sounds like quite the adventure, however, I was hoping you could help me solve a problem I've been having." Kane looked about at the humans and stepped closer to him whispering lower, "If the world is filled with all of these people, and they're peaceful people, believing in love as the ultimate force in the world, and all those morals of don't kill yourself, your brothers, etcetera, then why is it that demons are more well-housed, cleaner, and orderly in cities? We have food for everyone in Demon World, plants to pick, meat to harvest, but here, people starve when they throw out food that's surplus."

"It's just a different thought process really. It was a bit shocking to me at first too. To cope I just tend to clean my plate if I can and save the leftovers."

"Hm, they have made you soft." She sighed, "Still, I suppose interfering with humans would be futile. In Demon World if someone drunkens themselves out of consciousness, we eat them, and their lives are forfeit to the life of another. Here, they're left to rot slowly in the gutters."

"It's just a different lifestyle when it comes down to it. While Demon World is about power, and so is Human World, in Demon World power is not necessarily money. It's partly your strength and knowledge, but here in Human World, if you are the strongest man in the country and are poor, your strength doesn't mean a thing. Human World is centered more around money and people are a bit more self centered."

"So to humans, funds are power, not knowledge or strength."

"Knowledge to a point too, you have to know how to spend your money without losing it all." Kurama sighed, "Then there's also war."

"Right, humans have wars."

"Yes. You know," Kurama glanced around, "This country was part of a large scale war. It's interesting, looking back at the way they treat war. It's such a common thing for demons, but," he frowned, "Humans, they just, it's a big deal." He shrugged.

"But life and death are a part of being alive, being present. If you don't have fighting, then you'll not experience the truths of death until your body runs out of resources and energy. That's so late in life."

"That's why Human World has what they call, 'Adrenaline Junkies'," he laughed. "Here, the wars they have act like the fighting we have. They determine what country is more powerful than the neighbors, and that establishes the control that one country has on its neighbors, sort of like when Mukuro and Raizen were fighting. Here, however, when a country loses, humans don't have enough reach to control that large of a territory peacefully, so they restructure or leave the weaker government in charge and edict commands and threaten them with more war and continued destruction if they don't agree."

"Foolish, leaving them alive." Kane shook her head. "It makes no sense. The losing party might not have to die if you're not hungry but if you keep control over them supplemental to you then they will rise up eventually. Even Toguro knew that."

"Not exactly, currently the one who conquers usually repairs the government and restructures it. If it's a republic who wins, then the government switches to voting in elected officials to rule and so forth, and that creates peace between the two. Also, the economy here in Human World creates a large incentive to retain peace between countries because it is a delicate balance of money on belief, trust, understanding, and business. You don't just make something and sell it here for the cost of what you've made, you make something, manufacture it on a massive scale, and then attract investors who bet on whether you'll continue to make it or not with stocks. Those stocks are sold and exchange hands for higher and higher prices which is considered how well your company is doing, and is somewhat dependant on your profits. When the belief in the industry falters, the stock prices drop and the business is considered less-valuable."

"That sounds very confusing."

"It is," he sighed as they came to the door of his house and Kurama searched through his pocket for his keys, pulling them out and unlocking the door, "Please take your shoes off," he requested as he stepped in and removed his own shoes, stepping into slippers.

Kane had to sit down to pull off her boots. They were laced tight all the way up her calves beneath the suit she'd been wearing, so it took some time, and eventually, when they did pull off, Kane had to sigh and look about for something to put on like he had. She held up his guest slipper confused, "How would this stay on? It has no back."

"Just slip your feet in and walk, it'll stay on." He offered as he hung his jacket up in the closet near the door.

Kane did as he suggested, and pulled off the large brown coat she had on. Digging in the pockets, she pulled out a bag of coins, and several trinkets including a rudimentary communicator for contacting Demon World.

"What would you like for dinner?"

"It doesn't matter. Do you have somewhere I could change? Maybe shower?" Kurama was curious what she'd change into for about two seconds before he realized she meant to use her powers to clothe herself much as he always had when he was in his Youko form. It made it much easier to hide things when he could apparate his clothes at will. Then he realized that in essence, she'd be naked, only wearing her fur as a fox.

"Yes, I'll show you to the guest bedroom." He turned before she could see his flush and lead her to the guest bedroom, opening the door for her, "You can sleep here if you'd like, and the shower is this way," he took a few steps down the hall and opened the door.

"Thank you." She kissed his cheek and vanished into the room.

Kurama flushed a bright red and bit his lip to keep from squeaking in delight. He stood for a moment before he hurried to the kitchen to start cooking. He could feel his cheeks burn a bright red, and ache with the heat. He ignored the other aches his body reminded him of and tried to distract himself, trying not to think about the naked vixen in his home. He took a moment and nodded a few times to himself as he started prepping.

He knew Kane didn't have a place to stay, well, she did today. And he had that empty guest bedroom. Not only would it be beneficial to her health, he'd be able to watch her. And with Kane here, if Shiori made a surprise visit Kane could deny all proof that he was a demon, that was also beneficial. Keeping her here was beneficial, he decided.

He started cooking something quick and easy that'd be ready after she got out of the shower, but not quick enough for her to avoid questions and just hop off to bed. He still wanted to learn more about her. When she came down he smiled, "I hope you like stir fry Kane."

"Yes, I do." He stole a glance over his shoulder and saw she was wearing a deep V necked yellow-gold shirt, trimmed with red and a black undershirt with flowing pants that looked more like a skirt until she walked somewhere. They were off the floor enough to see she still wore his slippers. "I hung my suit up in the closet of that room you showed me. I hope you don't mind." The undershirt was a boat neck so that helped cover her cleavage, but it was semi-translucent so he could see some skin.

"Not at all," he stared down at what he was cooking, feeling his cheeks flush again. He tugged his shirt out of his pants and straightened it down, taking a deep breath.

"I'm sorry, do I make you uncomfortable?"

"No, I'm just twitching a little, I'm tired."

"Tired?" She sounded incredulous and he had to remind himself that she had a very good sense of his energy.

"Human bodies require more sleep."

"Oh," she'd let him get off the hook with that, but she still sounded disbelieving.

"Humans usually sleep eight hours a day, well, that's how long humans should sleep." He offered, "Humans can stay up for days at a time, but they become very tired and sometimes hallucinate. I try to sleep as long as I can and still get things done."

"That sounds tedious, being exposed to vulnerabilities for that long. This place must be well fortified for you to afford such dangers."

"It is," he agreed.

"That's good. I was feeling a little exposed among the homeless."

Kurama nodded and turned to look at her, tugging the hem of his shirt down, crossing his hands in front of his lap, "So Kane, are you a plant fox?"

"Plants? Yes, I can manipulate those. I'm better with spirit energy than plants though. I've never gotten really good at it."

"Mm," He nodded, "Is this your first time in Human World?"

"Not entirely. It's my first time recently. What about you?"

"I've been here briefly before in the past. How old are you?"

"Not old enough to disturb you if that's what you're worried about." Kane didn't want to tell him. The answer was enough to tell him that, but her wording was curious. Old enough to disturb him? How old would that be?

"No, I'm just curious." He glanced at the pan for a moment, before looking back at her.

"Well if you're curious, then how old are you?"

"A little over three thousand."

"I'm younger than you by a little bit."

"Two thousand?"

"Up."

"Two thousand five hundred?"

She nodded, "Approximately, yes."

"Mm, I see." He stirred the stir fry a bit and put his hands back quickly, "You can stay here if you'd like, as in, you know, until you get your own place."

"I tried to do that when I first came, but landlords aren't excited at the prospect of a demon tenant."

"I can't exactly blame them with their stories of demons."

"Yes, it poses some difficulties, but I'll manage eventually if I stay that long. I still have research and development I'm doing at home."

"Mm," he nodded, "You're welcome here."

"Thank you."

He smiled, "You're welcome."

"What will you do if your mother finds out you're a demon?"

"Gather my loses and just, tell her I guess. She knows but I've been trying to convince her I'm not, but she's skeptical."

"I'm sorry to hear that. I wouldn't want to sacrifice the love you four have for one another with something as inconsequential as that."

"It's fine, my Mother still loves me."

"How is it that you decided to suggest demon technology investments to your family without alerting them to your intimate knowledge?"

He shrugged, "I just, I don't know. I want to help the company as much as possible and it's the next thing."

She nodded, "That makes sense. It's hard to imagine that you're the same man who Kazuya spoke about while we were on the phone together."

"Really?"

"He spoke about you quite a bit, this, loving, gentle man who is impeccably bright, loves his mother to death, and who he's admired since the day he met. Yes, it's hard to imagine. He told me about how broken up you were for so long when your mother was sick."

"It was difficult." Kurama sighed, "How did he describe broken up?"

"Quiet, unresponsive, getting Bs, and generally lethargic, occasionally with bloodshot eyes like you were crying."

Kurama swallowed a few times, "That sounds accurate."

"How did she survive? I heard she had some sort of terminal cancer."

"I used the Forlorn Hope."

Kane's face sank, "Seriously? How did you…?"

"A good friend of mine stopped me and offered his life to the Forlorn Hope. It liked how willing he was to save someone and it granted my wish without taking our lives."

"Oh, that's really impressive."

"Yeah," he nodded, "I was ready to do it too. But thinking back, it would have probably hurt her to know her son had died. She would have probably thought I committed suicide, which, was what I was doing."

"That might have destroyed her will to survive."

"Probably, but I wished she'd live a long and happy life. Maybe it would have just given my body a fake soul."

"Unlikely. That would have required more energy than it could produce by taking your soul if it still had to save her. It probably would've just killed you and not granted you your wish at all."

"True. I sometimes wonder what would have happened. If she would've ran out, if it granted my wish, and cried, or maybe forgot about me. I wonder if she'd…" he frowned, "I wonder a lot about that day. It was one of the few days in my life, that, when I think back on, makes me highly depressed, but also incredibly happy."

"Mr. Minamino, I don't mean to change the subject, but, were you surprised when you saw I was your kin?"

"A little bit, yes. I think, you're highly attractive actually." He grabbed a few bowls and started plating their stir fry.

"That's a dangerous thing to admit."

"It is," he admitted, "But I'd be lying if I didn't find a vixen attractive."

"Oh, is that all of us or am I special?" She asked leaning against a kitchen chair.

"I think you're pretty special." He offered as he set the bowls on the table and pulled a chair out for her, taking his.

She took the indicated seat and picked up her utensils examining the food before taking a bite. "Mmm, you are a good cook," she murmured behind a hand.

"Oh, I'm glad." He grinned as he took a bite.

They ate in relative quiet, both absorbing what they'd learned, and after Kurama finished his meal and sat back in his chair, he realized that the silence wasn't awkward. It was less like when he was quite with his mother, and more like when he was quiet with Hiei. Even Genkai could have trouble keeping quiet, and not making it awkward somehow. It was nice to just sit and relax in the quiet of the kitchen listening to the natural sounds of the house and themselves.


	4. Chapter 4 Discovered

The news came storming through the webs of information and the fear that everyone emitted around him like a wildfire. He could see the smoke before he knew what was going on, and before ten minutes were up, Mukuro stood across from him in the large training dome, her arms crossed over her chest, glaring. "It's pointless Hiei! I know you're not really dating that girl. You haven't had sex since you've been here and you barely talk to one another once you're home! The most you talk about is dinner. If you were really a couple it'd be hard to separate your faces long enough for you to get any work done around here."

"I have more control than that Mukuro," Hiei squared off against her, and once she showed a ready position, he lunged. She blocked his sword with her metal arm, but that didn't stop their conversation. She parried nearly landing a punch on his stomach, and he ricocheted his sword from her arm up towards her chest. She limbo-ed out of the attack and re-stepped taking a kick at his stomach. The two continued their conversational fighting until Mukuro kicked him across the room.

Hiei pushed himself up, glaring at her, but didn't say a thing. She'd come up with a good enough distraction that he knew just by her body language she'd been doing something that he should have recognized, and would have if he was actually in a relationship, but didn't.

Vena chuckled from her spot, "You know, a relationship can just be each other's company, right?" She asked Mukuro, making her way over to Hiei to brush him off.

"That's not what he implied when you first came here," Mukuro growled glaring at the woman. "Shut up, this is between me and Hiei."

"Oh just go away." Vena waved her off, "You're such a nuisance. Really, don't you have better things to be doing?"

"The better things I have to do are not going to stop me from making Hiei see exactly how much danger he's put himself in! You're a threat to the safety of my city, shadow demon."

"I'm only a danger if you threaten me." Vena snapped, "Now stop being a fly and go do what you're good at."

"Hiei, if you really want to prove you're dating her, then kiss her, here and now." Mukuro pointed at Vena, her other hand on her hip.

Hiei sighed and shook his head, "I'm not dating her Mukuro. Not really, but that doesn't mean I won't if you keep acting like an idiot. Despite your attempts to break us up, it hasn't worked. I enjoy Vena's company and I am not going to give it up just because you know we're not dating."

Vena sighed heavily, "Well then."

"You're not leaving yet," Hiei caught her arm. "I told her that because there doesn't need to be cloak and dagger about this. Vena, will you start a relationship with me? Will you date me?"

Mukuro opened her mouth to say something but Hiei shot a glare at her and the woman paused, waiting to hear what Vena had to say.

"Of course I will Hiei." Vena smiled, "You're a nice man and I enjoy your company."

"And you mean that for real, not, not as a part of what I hired you to do?"

She nodded, "Yeah."

"Good. I'd like that." He took her hands in his and leaned forward partway inviting her to kiss him. Vena kissed him square on the lips and stepped closer to press up against him.

Hiei flushed and stepped back again, sheepish.

Mukuro relaxed seeing that and stepped away. She sighed and left the two of them to their own devices.

Hiei stared at her, confused. Somehow it felt different having her press up against him now, different than before. Before, when they'd slept, she'd cuddle up to him and he'd felt like a log, or a stone, just letting her lounge as she would choose to. Now, knowing what he did about her emotions, it changed things. His lips tingled to be separated from hers.

Vena laughed and shook her head, "You're adorable Firefly."

"I am not a Firefly." He liked Dragon better. "Nor am I adorable."

"Nah? Fine then my mighty sexy Dragon." She offered with a wide grin.

Hiei smirked and pressed their lips together in reward. "Much better."

She gave him a few quick kisses on the lip before she kissed his nose, "Yeah?"

"Yes." Hiei wiped his nose off.

She poked him in the stomach gently, "I'm glad."

"Glad? You're glad I'm not some weakling who likes being called Firefly?"

"Yeah."

"Hn. Let's go back to my quarters." He looked about the room checking to make sure Mukuro actually had left. He decided she did.

"Oh, fancy," She grinned, and poked him again before bolting off.

Hiei chased after her, shaking his head. When she actually decided to run somewhere, she wasn't fast, but her abilities gave her the upper hand because she could slip into shadows in one place, and out of them in another. He often had to guess where she was aiming to win their races, but this time, he knew, so he made quick work of the area and got back to his room in record time, mindful to be gentle on his feet.

When he made it to his room Vena was lounging on her stomach, laid out on the bed with her feet in the air and her hands under her chin. She chuckled, "That was quick."

"Hn." He pulled off his cloak and shed his scarf to get rid of some of the heat he felt built up from his run.

"So what're we doing now Dragon?"

"Now we're more comfortable if you decide to get touchy."

She smirked, "You want to get touchy?"

"That's not what I said, I said if you decide you want to lay against me and rub your hands all over the place like you sometimes do, then I'm not going to be avoiding you."

She curled a finger in a 'come here' motion and rolled onto her back, looking up at him upside down.

Hiei came over and leaned over her with a hand on either side of her face staring down at her. "Well?"

Vena rolled over and sat up to wrap her arms around him and kiss him, "Well?" She repeated. Hiei crawled onto the bed straddling her legs and leaned over her until she was forced to lay back again, their lips pressed together as he moved her about. He ghosted his hand over her side, his muscles trembling to touch her, but he didn't want to hurt her, and he wouldn't, if he could help it. He would be gentle to ensure he didn't hurt her, ever, even though gentle wasn't his nature.

Vena chuckled against his lips and pulled back for a moment to breath, "Good god Hiei, I didn't think you had this in you."

Hiei frowned and looked around the room, then back at her, confused. He couldn't figure out what she was talking about. He sat up to see if he'd accidentally broken her leg or something, but even those looked fine. She looked completely fine. He touched her ribs making sure they weren't hurt, and then got off of her to check her hips.

"I'm not hurt silly, come back." She grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him forward making him fall forward onto her. He caught himself on the bed and carefully positioned himself back over her, gentle with his motions, and slow. "You just don't seem like the gentle type."

"You won't be hurt because of me." He ghosted their lips together.

"Yeah?" She kissed him gently, rubbing her hands up his arms."That's good to hear."

Hiei felt pressure on his inner thigh as she tried to move her leg and shifted to accommodate her focusing on her hands, unsure what to make of them. He caught her eyes when she slipped her leg out from between his, and the other soon followed.

Vena wrapped her legs loosely around his waist and sighed, "So, Dragon, now that you have me all to yourself, what are you going to do?"

"No idea," All he could do was be honest about it. He didn't know where to go with this, and she probably did, so it would be best to just let her do what she wanted to do.

"Really?" Vena chuckled and tugged on his arms, "Just come down and kiss me then."

"Kiss you? Is that all you want?"

"It's not all that I want." She shrugged.

"It's not?" Hiei rolled over pulling her up on top yawning.

"Nope. But I want you to guess."

"Guess? Okay. I'm going to guess that you want to..." He had to consider it. If she didn't just want kisses, and they'd already been snuggling, then chances were it was something more than those two things in a relationship. The longer he thought about it, the more likely it seemed like she'd want to sleep with him, but he wasn't ready for that yet. "Play a game."

"Not what I had in mind."

"Write sappy things to one another?"

"Not really."

"Well then, I'm all out of ideas."

"Tch," she rolled her eyes, "Really?"

"We just started this dating thing. It'd be awkward to get intimate so quickly."

"You think so?"

"You don't?" His suspicions were correct.

"No not really, doesn't seem too awkward."

"Hn." He sighed, "Perhaps it's because I'm not usually intimate."

"Probably."

"Are you absolutely sure you weren't thinking about a game?" Hiei smirked and reached up stroking her cheek.

"The only game I was thinking about was a love game."

"I know a few of those."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. One is quite a challenge to win."

"Don't think too much," she chuckled. She squirmed a bit to sit up on his lap, "Really they're the best games."

"No, this would require quite a bit of thinking. It's a game of flirting. See who can out-flirt the other."

"Not the game I was really thinking of," she shifted her weight a little, pressing down with her hips.

Hiei winced and frowned, not exactly sure what she was trying, but he didn't approve so far. Her weight was on his crotch and he had to shift his hips to avoid too much pressure.

"Sorry, did that hurt?"

"It could've."

"Could've?" She shifted and leaned down, kissing him gently.

"Yeah." He kissed her back. Vena rolled them over and settled down for kisses.

* * *

The knock on the front door was loud enough to startle Kane when she heard it. It wasn't the first time someone had knocked, but the person was a lot more determined than all the others. She pushed out her energy, searching for whomever it was, and found herself puzzled. It was Shiori. Kurama had left for a lunch with Kazuya, so she didn't understand why Shiori would be at his house.

"Kane!" She knocked again.

That answered it. Apparently Shiori knew she was staying here. Kane didn't relish the idea of confirming that belief, but she wasn't going to stop Shiori from finding out if she already knew. She'd called her by name. There was nothing else for it. Kane crossed to the door and pulled it open, her ears back, and tail lax. "Hello Shiori."

"Kane, I want to know what's going on with my son." Shiori stepped inside and traded shoes for slippers following Kane as she backed up.

Kane wasn't sure what to say in response. It was true that Kurama wasn't being honest with the woman, but it wasn't her place to explain that to her, and it certainly wasn't her place to reveal it. "I-I'm not sure what you mean." Kane mentally scolded herself for stuttering. She needed to be calm, collected, resilient. This couldn't frighten her. Shiori needed to believe her.

The mom in the woman came out. Her hands attached to her hips like they were making a tea-pot and that tea-pot was about to boil. "Don't you start with me Kane. I know you know something about my son that you're not sharing. He's dropped more than a few hints on accident that you do with the way he looks at you when he's waiting to see if you'll rat him out. Now you either tell me, or I'll force it out of you."

She almost laughed, "Force it out of me?"

"Yes! Don't think I don't know what you've been up to in that lab. If you want to continue your experiments on my son you have got to tell me about my child!"

Kane stiffened. "Kokota volunteered."

"And he can un-volunteer just as quickly!" Shiori stepped forward pointing at Kane, shaking her finger. "Now you tell me what I want to know or I'll be forced to manage this situation." She crossed her arms over her chest and stared down her nose at the taller woman. "I'm going to find out one way or another. It might as well be from someone on his side. I've been doing some research and what I've found is not making me happy."

"Re-research?" That startled her. She wasn't sure where Shiori was doing research, but if it was upsetting her then maybe it would be better if she helped. Maybe she could mitigate the damage if she just came forward about him and steer the woman away from damaging information. Kurama had enough problems going on without that. Plus, she wanted to keep her lab help. It had been lonely without him.

"Yes! Research! Now is my son a demon or not!"

Kane shook her head, "N-no, he's not. I didn't lie to you about that."

"But you didn't tell me the whole truth now did you? How is my son connected with the demon Kurama?"

Kane stiffened. She really didn't want to lie to this woman. She respected Shiori, even enjoyed her company. The banter she'd had with Kazuya had always been best when Shiori was adding her two cents in and to lose that would be to lose a dear friend. "Shiori, please, you have to understand. If your son wanted you to know then he'd tell you himself."

"He doesn't want me to know, but I need to know. I'm his mother! I have every right to know who and what my son is."

Kane sighed, and deflated, "Shiori, don't make me answer this. It's, it's not going to be easy to explain and if I do it wrong, it will seem like I was lying to you until you understand and I don't know how long Shuichi's actually going to be gone for."

Shiori sighed as well and crossed to the window staring out of it. She folded her arms behind her back, and just stared for nearly a minute.

Kane approached slowly, unsure what to make of the reclusive behavior. "Please, I don't want to lose your friendship."

"Kane, I have been living with my son, loving him, for nearly thirty years. He is my pride, my joy, and he has my deepest affection. All I ask in return is that I understand him, and he denies me that right. He pushes me away from who he's become, and just, just acts, like this son who never does anything wrong. I never see him hurting, I never hear about his concerns. He's always, distant. He keeps me at arm's reach and frankly, I'm sick of it. I deserve better than that. I deserve to know who my son is, and what he is capable of."

Kane couldn't disagree. She didn't want to, but she couldn't.

"Please, I don't want to hamper your work, but if you don't tell me what I want to know, today, now, then I will ask Kokota to abandon his work with you." Shiori turned, looking frail and tired.

Kane sighed, "Alright fine. I see you leave me very little choice in the matter. Your son's body is human, that much is true. He is, in his body functions, human, so it's possible to qualify him like that, but,"

"But?" Shiori crossed to the sofa and sat on the edge.

"But he's not just human."

"He's part demon?"

"It's not a part, thing, it's more like his soul is a demon and his body is a human, so he's a demon in a human body, full demon, full human." Kane explained. "I have no doubt that the man in your son's body is the one you gave birth to, the one you raised, the one who's been your perfect son, but, he's-he's not, just, a perfect son. Shuichi is Kurama, in name. He is the one behind the legend that scared my scientist half to death, but, he's not that person anymore. He's changed, and grown. He's developed into the man that you know, Shuichi."

"You're sure he's not possessed by a demon?"

"I'm sure. If he had been possessing the body, then it would have started to decay, but that's not the case. Instead, the body he has is mutated to better match his demon energy, although that doesn't make it a demon's body."

* * *

Kurama shuffled up to his door and dug through his pocket, dragging his key out. He stepped inside and blinked a few times when he made it a foot in, "Mother? What are you doing here?"

"Oh, Shuichi, welcome home." Shiori smiled and came over to pull him into a hug. "Did you have a good time with Kazuya?"

"Yes, we had a nice lunch." He smiled, hugging her tightly.

Kane slipped into his view, her ears down, feet light, and eyes on the ground. She held her tail in her hands and wouldn't look him in the eyes. Something was wrong.

Kurama frowned, "Is something going on?"

"I'm sorry Shuichi, she ambushed me."

"Ambushed you?" He laughed, "That seems unlikely."

"Oh, I can be very persuasive when I want to be." Shiori smiled. "Don't worry Kane. It doesn't matter what I know, I will always love him."

"Wait, what?" Kurama pulled back from her, startled.

"Honey," Shiori stared after him, "It's alright. Come sit down with us." Kane retreated into the living room.

Kurama frowned, "Alright." He led Shiori to the couch and took a seat in his recliner.

"Now Shuichi, I need you to understand that no matter what you've done, or who you've been, or what you are, I love you. My love for you is unconditional and it always will be. It's just how mothers are. We don't get a choice about loving our children unless something goes wrong with us, and I wouldn't have it any other way."

Kurama frowned deeper and crossed his arms, "What's the point?"

"She knows you're Kurama." Kane whispered.

His eyes darted to her and settled into a glare.

Kane shivered and crossed to the window folding her arms around her stomach.

"Oh it's not her fault. Look, I found out that you were Kurama well before she told me. I just, I needed someone who knew you to explain how my son was two people at once. She did a wonderful job explaining it to me in a way that made sense, and helped me understand what happened without the fear-mongering most information about demons has in the library."

Kurama sighed and got up, removing his jacket to put in the closet, silent. He didn't know what to say to that.

"Before I came here Shuichi, I thought that maybe you'd been possessed, but it just didn't seem right. You're my son and I love you and the way you acted when you were young makes sense now, and those strange friends of yours. I just, I needed to know the truth."

"Well, you don't have half the truth really Mother." Kurama hung his jacket up and closed the door slowly.

"Then how about you finish it off."

"You know what I did with Yusuke and them?" He questioned quietly.

"As a Spirit Detective? Yes. She informed me that you saved the world multiple times, and we even had time to go over how."

"I wasn't a spirit detective." He shook his head.

"No, you weren't. Only humans can be Spirit Detectives. Yusuke was the Spirit Detective."

"You remember how I told you Hiei nearly chopped me in half?"

Shiori frowned and studied him closer. "Yes, I remember."

Kurama unbuttoned his shirt slowly and took it off, approaching Shiori, "Well, he did stab me through."

Shiori gasped, "Oh!" She covered her mouth with her hands staring at the flickers of past scars that tattooed his body.

"There are more on my legs, but, I tend to get hurt on my stomach." He chuckled and sighed, "You see these round ones?"

"Shuichi, there's no need to be so dramatic," Kane whispered, eyeing his wounds herself.

Kurama glared at her, but went back to looking at Shiori, "They're from explosions. I didn't just go out for lunch or anything with Yusuke, we were fighting. Life and death."

Shiori's eyes teared up and she launched herself forward pulling Kurama into a tight hug, "Oh my poor, poor, boy."

He sighed, "I never told you because I knew you'd be upset. I almost died a few times Mother. I don't know if Kane told you, but I almost killed myself for your life."

She leaned back, holding his shoulders tight, staring him in the eyes. "You are never to do anything like that again, do you understand? My life is my life and if I'm going to die then so be it but you will not die in my place!"

"Well, I'm the reason you're standing here, well," he frowned, "Yusuke is. Yusuke stopped me."

"And I assure you when I'm done with you here I'm going to go buy him the biggest thank you gift I can find, but right now, right here, I want you to promise me that you will never sacrifice yourself for me again. Am I clear young man?"

"I'm sorry Mother, I can't promise that." He smiled softly, sighing.

Shiori's fury grew, but Kane touched her arm, "Shiori, I understand you want him to live and let life happen, but living in our world is so much different than yours that, gambling your life just, isn't that odd. He's got it down to a science or he wouldn't still be alive."

"I must admit some of it was luck, like Yusuke." Kurama sighed, "Thank god he stopped me."

"Yes, well I never really filled her in completely on that," Kane sighed. "I just said that she owed her life to you. I think she put some of the rest of it together on her own."

"I don't care if it's a science or not! I do not want my son dying so I may live."

"Shiori, you're never going to get that promise out of him." Kane sighed.

"Do you know how old I am Mother?"

"Kane said you were… well, she said you were old."

"Three thousand." He sighed, "Three thousand and about seven hundred. Approximately. I've lived so many human lifetimes," he smiled, "Kane is right, you'll never get that promise out of me. I'd rather have you alive and me dead than you dead and me alive. I know, that when you die, I'm going to be a mess." He sighed, his face contorting in pain, "I'll probably end up a drunk man for a few centuries, probably have Hiei drag me around to actually do things." He shook his head and wrapped his arms around her, squeezing her tightly, "But I don't want to think about that Mother. You've changed me so much. You showed me what love is and I can never thank you enough for that, really. I made a sort of promise to myself awhile ago, when I was a teenager, that I wouldn't go back to my old life, I'd embrace this one. I'm sorry if I've upset you, showing you all my scars, but I lied to you so much, I hid so many bloody clothes, so many tears, I wanted to show you, and just get it out." He pressed his face into her shoulder, feeling tears well up in his eyes. He sniffed and squeezed her tighter, gentle, but still tight.

Shiori cradled him and rubbed his back rocking soothingly. "It's alright Shuichi, I love you. I'll always love you, I just don't want to think about my baby dying before me."

"Yeah, that's not a good thing to think about."

"No, it's not." She sighed heavily and leaned back holding his shoulders. "But you, you have so much to tell me."

"I do. D-do you want to see me Mother?"

"I want to hear about you. Kane didn't fill in all the details. All she could do was give me broad spectrum answers."

"Just ask away."

Shiori and Kurama didn't notice Kane sneak away, or the next three hours. It wasn't until Kane brought out water glasses and something to eat for them that either realized how much time had actually passed. That was when Shiori finally decided it was time to go home, for the third time, and actually made it out the door. Kurama finally shut the door to his mother, and turned to find Kane leaning against the kitchen door.

"I hope you understand what you did Kane." Kurama leaned against the door himself.

"I overstepped myself, I know."

"I don't think overstepped is the right term."

Kane's ears fell back. She followed his eyes, not backing down from his challenge, or his words, but definitely not admitting anything.

"I want to know why you gave into her demands."

"She was threatening my work here and I've been trained in combat, not diplomacy."

"So you tell her about me? You know what I am possible of Kane." He didn't want to think about it, but if she kept this up he was going to have to stop it. Though she'd probably shared everything she knew.

Kane sighed and folded her arms over her chest, staring at him, her tail swishing, "I'm not in the habit of taking threats Kurama."

"No, but you should not be in the habit of sharing my personal information either."

"What I shared with that woman was not personal information, it was common knowledge."

"I don't care what you consider it. I don't. All I'm concerned about is why the hell you think it's okay to share info you know I do not want shared."

"Shiori convinced me to share information with her because she was researching and collecting information on her own. She already knew most of what I told her, but not in a clean, gentle way, and it was scaring her. She came to me as a mother, asking about her child, and no, I didn't want to share it with her, and yes, I was convinced, but you better damn well know that I would not have shared that information lightly!"

"She convinced you by threatening your job. That's all that is. You know what I can threaten."

Kane glared at him, "She is your mother, Kurama. I didn't share things that weren't common knowledge. I made sense of things that she was finding out already."

He glared back at her, "I don't care what you think you shared. I don't. I could have done that without you telling her. You have no place to talk about those things to my Mother. Remember whose territory you're in vixen."

"And you remember who didn't send some stupid low class demon but came herself to prevent the whole company finding out about you!" Kane stepped up to him, growling. "In case you've forgotten, your mother came to me! I didn't volunteer this information, she came here seeking it, and she's more than just your mother, she's my friend as well!"

"You told her! The hell you 'didn't' volunteer the information! You could have stayed silent! Apparently you haven't had enough fear whipped into you!" He growled, raising his energy.

"I am not some pawn you can manipulate with fear!"

"You'll be scared when I rip you apart limb from limb! If you ever, ever, do anything like this again, I will find you, and I will punish you."

"You won't have to find me, I live in your house! In case you've forgotten, I'm a spirit fox! You rip me limb from limb I'll just become my true self and you'll be screwed!"

"Not if I have a special little friend of mine spirit gun you into nothing!"

Kane smirked and stared at his crotch, consideringly, then shook her head. "I don't think your penis has that power, sorry Fox. You're naught for naught."

Kurama rolled his eyes, "You're stepping on dangerous ground. I can burn you alive,"

"Oh my god Kurama, give it a rest. Your mother, my friend, came to me, threatened my work, made several, very, very compelling arguments, and in the end, told me she already knew what I was going to tell her, and that she'd go searching out the answers elsewhere if I didn't tell her. Instead of letting her go find some random demon who wasn't going to give her the edited version, I told her myself and guess what, it turned out fine!"

"I'm not going to give it a rest!" He shouted at her, "I don't give a shit if she threatened your work or anything else, you do not share information I do not want shared!"

"Yes! I do! I'm my own person and if you can't handle me then I'll leave and you can explain to your step-father why my company pulled out of the deal!" She jutted out a hip and stared at him defiantly.

"I don't think I'm going to let you leave." He could feel the frustration boiling in his stomach and he was tempted to lash out like Yusuke might've and punched the wall, but he wasn't in the mood to fix that.

"You're being very indecisive about something that turned out fine."

"I don't like people sharing my information! That was not yours to tell!"

"Well what were you going to do? Hunt down the entire population of Demon World and chain their mouths shut if Shiori went asking? You know her next stop was the Demon Ambassador's Office, and from there, when she didn't get answers, she was just going to go asking random people who she thought might be demons. She knows another demon Kurama, I don't know who it is, but someone was sharing information with her, and how to get that information and it wasn't us."

"I don't want you sharing information about me with my mother."

"And I don't want to, but she was not giving me a choice. Kurama, she knew you weren't a normal human. She knew you were related to Kurama directly. Hell, she even knew you were in the Dark Tournament as Kurama, and that you were in the Demon World Tournament, and that you were the former advisor for Yomi. She just didn't know why, or how, you got the name Kurama, and why you were doing those things. She thought that you'd gone mentally ill."

"You will not ever, ever answer any of her questions about me again Kane."

Kane sighed heavily, "Really? Come on Kurama, that's just low."

"No, I don't care if it's low. I don't care if it's stupid. You're going to do as I say."

"What's making you be such a domineering ass? Are you really that out of control?"

Kurama rolled his eyes, "I let a pretty vixen get into my territory."

"Fine, then I'll leave. I don't mind." Kane started for the front door.

"No, you're staying."

"I'm not your property Kurama, I can leave if I want to." She growled up at him, her hand reaching past him for the handle.

Kurama slapped her hand, but she didn't pull away, "You're staying here."

"You're not my boss," Kane growled, holding the handle firm.

Kurama leaned back against the door, "You're staying."

"So what am I now, your prisoner? Maybe slave would be a more appropriate term," she growled up at him, her hand on his side, threatening.

"You don't scare me Kane. You're surrounded by my plants."

"I'm a fox too. I might not be as good as you are at plant manipulation but I can and I will stop them from hurting me."

"Not if I can help it."

"You can't. They come within a foot of me, and I'll be able to control them despite your best attempts."

"Not if you're unconscious."

"Kurama, this is ridiculous! Listen to yourself! You're overreacting."

"Of course I'm overreacting! Now get your filthy paw off me or so help me I'm going to knock you unconscious."

"Let me out!" She shoved against his side sending an energy pulse behind her hand to help push him away.

Kurama smacked her upside the head and shoved her back with his foot. Kane punched his inner knee and threw a second one at his head in retaliation. Kurama caught the blow to his head, using his weight to shove her down to the floor.

Kane used his hand, and the weight he put into his foot, to roll and use his momentum to send him into the floor as well, twisting their positions so she was on top, holding his wrist.

Kurama gave up struggling and sighed heavily, "What the hell am I doing Kane?"

She backed off when she realized he wasn't fighting her, and left.


	5. Chapter 5 A Fantasy

Kurama groaned and rubbed at his face and sighed heavily. He didn't know what to do now. He didn't know what he'd done. He felt like he'd just learned the overwhelming secret to the universe and didn't know what to do with it. The only thing was, he was more confused than ever and took a deep breath, pushing himself to his feet. He made his way over to the phone and picked it up, punching in a familiar number. When the other line answered he sighed, "Hey Yusuke, want to go get drunk?"

Yusuke laughed, "You want to go out for a drink? Are you kidding me?"

"No Yusuke."

"Okay, who died?"

"No one Yusuke."

"Well, what the hell? Since when did you ever want to go out for drinks? Did you get dumped?"

"No Yusuke. I just need to get drunk."

"Sounds like I'd be the enabler."

"Do you want to come watch me get drunk or not Yusuke?"

"Kurama, seriously, what's wrong?"

"Mother knows."

"Knows? What's she know?"

"That I'm a demon."

"Oh, how'd she take it?"

"Well, mostly."

"Oh, so, it's a celebration?"

"No Yusuke, I just need to get drunk. I'm feeling stupid."

"Trust me Kurama, getting drunk will not make you feel smart."

"Yusuke, I don't care at this point."

"Yeah, well, as one of your besties, it's a privilege to be designated with that job."

"Alright, want to come pick me up so I don't do something stupid?"

"Like go get wasted? Sure."

"Alright, thank you Yusuke."

Yusuke showed up about half an hour later with a couple bags for popcorn, some light beer, not much of it, and a large movie selection.

Kurama poked through the beer when Yusuke set it down, "How am I supposed to get drunk with this Yusuke?"

"You're not getting drunk Kurama." Yusuke popped the popcorn in the microwave and dug for a bowl.

"Well I do have whiskey."

"Kurama, you'd hate yourself tomorrow if you got drunk tonight."

"I already hate myself Yusuke, for the moment anyway," Kurama rubbed his face.

"How come?" Yusuke popped open a beer and sipped it, offering another to Kurama.

"I exploded on Kane. I wasn't even thinking, I just, exploded on her and threatened her life and everything." He took the beer, downing half of it with a single swig.

"So, you're upset because of that? Well what did she think about it?"

"She thought I was being ridiculous. I didn't want to do that, but I just," he sighed and pressed his lips to the bottle, "I don't know Yusuke."

"Well it's not often you get riled up enough to act like a dick. What happened?"

"She told Mother most of the easy stuff about me, and that just really ticked me off."

"Oh, so, she broke your trust?"

"Yes!" Kurama nodded, "Those are the words I wanted."

"Well, if she, broke your trust, is that why you kicked her out?"

"She left." He sighed, "We wrestled for a little while and she got me on the ground and I just gave up Yusuke." He sipped his bottle and rested his forehead against the bottle, "I'm going to get mostly drunk Yusuke," he told him softly.

"Probably won't be able to with what I brought." Yusuke dumped popcorn into a bowl and dragged the fox back out to the living room pulling a TV out of hiding. He popped in a movie and put it on low settling down with the bowl between them. "You know, we all do stupid shit once in awhile, but it's a mark of a true friend who can forgive you for it."

Kurama sighed and took a handful of popcorn, shoving most of it into his mouth, "I don't know Yusuke."

"Kurama, what would you've done if I'd been the one who told Shiori the stuff Kane told her?"

"I'd punch you through a wall Yusuke, maybe beat you half to death." Kurama sighed.

"Really?"

Kurama shrugged, "Maybe."

"That sounds more like something Hiei would do. I mean, Shiori's okay with it, isn't she?"

Kurama sighed and grabbed the popcorn bowl, shifting to rest his head on Yusuke's lap, holding the bowl against his stomach so Yusuke still had access to it, "Yes."

"So what's the problem? You can't control everyone."

"I don't know Yusuke."

"You don't know? That's unlike you."

Kurama sighed and closed his eyes, "I know it is. I'm just stressed."

"Well you didn't kill her, did you?"

"No."

"So you can always apologize if you still feel like shit about what you did."

"I'm going to Yusuke."

"Alright, well tell me if there's another movie you want to watch. I brought a lot of 'em."

Kurama sighed and pressed his face into Yusuke's leg, "This is fine."

"Alright." Yusuke munched on popcorn.

Kurama shifted about until he was comfortable and took a deep breath, sighing heavily. The good news was that it was done. He'd already told her just about everything. It was all out in the open for her, and she could call him if she had a question. That roller coaster was over. He could relax now. He could think. He lifted himself up enough to sip his beer and coughed, "Thank you Yusuke."

"Uh huh." Yusuke didn't bother moving, just watched the movie giving Kurama space. Kurama eventually crawled so he could lounge against the arm of the couch and still be in Yusuke's lap. He sipped his beer quietly and looked towards the TV but didn't really watch the movie.

So far he'd flipped out on Kane and threatened her life, her job, and everything else he could think of. He couldn't exactly blame himself, but it he didn't like it either. He'd need to apologize to her, sincerely, and he knew just what he would do. He'd make some flowers, maybe buy her something sweet like chocolates, and offer them. The flowers would be a total indication he was sorry, it was like handing someone a gun with the barrel pointed back at yourself. He didn't know if she'd do something to Kokota, and the thought made him squirm uncomfortably for a moment before he realized she'd never do that.

The movie ended, but Yusuke didn't bother moving. He kicked his feet up and leaned back, "So what's your plan Fox?"

"I'm going to apologize to Kane."

"And how're you going to go about that?"

"I'm going to give her flowers and chocolate." Kurama tossed his beer bottle gently onto the carpet and twisted to grab another one, "Want another Yusuke?"

"Well I'm not going to let you have two before I get done with one." Yusuke snagged the last bottle for himself, and chugged the one he was on setting it aside, popping it open for himself.

"So, do you think flowers and roses are appropriate?"

"Uhhh, I have no idea. I mean, if it was Keiko, I'd probably take her out to a fancy dinner, give her flowers, the whole nine yards, but you use them as weapons."

"Which is why I'm giving them to her." Kurama nodded, "Maybe I'll ask her out to dinner," he sipped his beer, "I think that'd probably help to a point."

"Well she's your type of woman. What would you do if it was just you and a bunch of demons around?"

"Hm?" Kurama frowned.

"She's not human Kurama."

Kurama nodded slowly, "Yes?"

"Would you really want to do things that I'd do with a human with a demon? Do you think she'd understand it?"

"It'd give her an opportunity to people watch." Kurama shrugged, "If we were in Demon World I'd probably just try to seduce her."

"But we're not in Demon World, we're just, you're just dealing with a demon in Human World."

"That's true."

"So, what would you do if you wanted to gain forgiveness in Demon World and it was a man?"

"Um." Kurama frowned, "You don't want to hear that Yusuke."

"What, would you seduce him too?"

"Well, it'd be a different seduce."

Yusuke coughed up his beer and stared at him, his eyes huge. "You're not serious!"

"What?" Kurama whined, "I don't know if you have my train of thought or if you're off target here Yusuke!"

"You'd bone a guy just to get forgiveness?"

Kurama blinked a few times, "No that wasn't what I was thinking."

"Okay Fox, explain."

"Well," Kurama frowned, "Maybe I'd give him a massage or something? Cook him a nice meal," he shrugged, "I don't know. Give him some protection for awhile. Or just," he sipped his beer, "Well if it was Hiei, I'd make him something sweet, buy him some ice cream, the largest tub I could get," he chuckled.

"What if it was Yomi?"

"I'd probably just, become his adviser again."

"How would that do anything?"

"Because I'd be under his roof, in his range," Kurama shrugged, "I'd be there for the taking. It'd be easy to kill me if he caught me off guard."

"Oh, that makes sense."

Kurama nodded, "I'm just not sure with Kane."

"Well have you two said anything one way or another about liking each other?"

"I told her I thought she was pretty."

"That's it? Well do you think she's pretty? I mean, we haven't talked in awhile. Who is this Kane really? Do you know her from when you were a tall drink of mercury or something?"

"She's an employee at work."

"An employee? Really?"

"Uh huh."

"How'd you end up with a demon employee?"

"It's complicated Yusuke, but she does work for us."

"So, is it against company policy or anything to get involved with her?"

"Not entirely, no."

"Oh, okay then. So are you actually interested in this girl or were you thinking flowers and chocolates and a date for some other reason?"

"I do like her." Kurama nodded, "So if I can, I'd like to repair this."

"That shouldn't be too hard if she wasn't like, really pissed at you. You said she walked out?"

"After she pushed me to the floor and I stopped fighting with her."

"Well at least she didn't keep fighting with you. That's got to mean something, right?"

"Maybe." Kurama sighed, "Maybe Yusuke."

"Do you think she left Human World?"

"Probably not." Kurama leaned forward and wrapped an arm around Yusuke's neck, leaning against him.

Yusuke rubbed Kurama's back, "You'll be fine Fox. So what do you like about her?"

"I like her fire, or spirit I guess. She's very strong and doesn't give in easily, so I like that too." He nuzzled into Yusuke and took a deep breath, sighing.

"Do you think she likes you back?"

"I don't know if she does anymore."

"You think she did?"

"Maybe." He nodded and sighed again, "Do you want some whiskey?"

"No, and you shouldn't be having whiskey either. Kurama, just go to bed or something."

"I can drink whatever the hell I want Yusuke," Kurama grumbled, "It's not like I'm going to drink the bottle."

"Dude, chill. I know how this shit mixes and I'm here to keep you from being unable to get to work tomorrow."

Kurama sighed, "Just one shot of whiskey." He untangled himself from the Detective and hopped up to fetch himself a shot.

"Don't say I didn't warn you."

"Just one small shot," Kurama waved him off. He quickly got himself a shot and came back wiping his mouth off, "What time is it anyway Yusuke?"

"Getting late."

"Mm, I should probably get to bed then." Kurama rubbed the back of his neck, "Thank you, Yusuke."

"Oh no, you're going to have one hell of a hangover if you go to bed like that, silly Fox. You're the one who taught me that, remember?" Yusuke wrapped an arm around Kurama's and dragged him into the kitchen pulling out a glass and filling it with water.

Kurama sighed heavily and took the glass, "Alright, alright." He sipped his water, "Yes, I did teach you this."

"And I'm not going to let you forget it."

Kurama chuckled, "Mm, that's one of the many things I like about you Yusuke."

"Yeah?"

"Yes." Kurama took a long drink of his water, "You take good care of your friends."

"What else is there Kurama?"

"Hm?" Kurama frowned, "What I like about you? There's too many things to count really. I could sit here all day telling you about what I like about you."

"No, in life. What else would you take care of but your friends?"

"Your family, yourself," he shrugged.

"Well my family are my friends."

Kurama smiled and finished his water, setting the cup in the sink, "Thank you Yusuke."

"Uh huh, now get to bed before I throw a cow at you or something for being stupid."

"A cow?" Kurama laughed, "Alright, alright," he pulled Yusuke into a hug and released him after a minute, "Sleep well Yusuke."

Yusuke waved the Fox off to bed and collected his stuff waiting for the Fox to start that way before leaving.

* * *

Kurama sat in his office with flowers in the desk drawer with a box of chocolates. He was nearly hiding in his office, the door locked, blinds closed. He'd even mostly turned down the lights so natural light came in. It felt good and nerve wracking all same as he leaned back in his chair, staring at the open drawer. He was still quietly musing what he wanted to say, but he knew what he'd say for the most part. If Kokota was there it'd make things awkward, and he silently prayed when he did get the balls to go see Kane, Kokota would not be there.

Eventually he grabbed the flowers and the chocolate and opened up the blinds and unlocked the door, quietly slipping out of his office. He took a deep breath and prayed no one saw him. He made it a little ways down the hall before one of the peppy office girls he loathed popped out from around a corner and stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes widening with delight. "Oh! Shuichi!" She squealed in delight and hurried towards him reaching for the flowers. "You shouldn't have."

Kurama stepped back and held out a hand, chuckling nervously, "Oh, Ms. Tamashi, these uh, these…" he sighed heavily, "These aren't for you." He winced.

"What?" She stared at him, squinting in confusion. She blinked rapidly and her face flushed hot red.

"These are for someone else, I'm sorry." He frowned, "I really am." He loathed the girl, wanted to break her heart, but it didn't make him feel good.

"But we've known each other for so long. I've been with you since middle school." She sniffed and blinked away her tears. "You're saying, you're… But we've been in love since middle school. You just never wanted to admit it."

"Ms. Tamashi," he sighed, "I was never in love with you. I hate to hurt you like that, but I never found you… right for me. You're a beautiful girl," he smiled softly.

"But I, I've been saving myself for you Shuichi."

Kurama flushed, "Well, I'm sorry but you're saving has been in vain."

"But then, why did your stepfather hire me?"

"You have a good work ethic." He shrugged, "If I had wanted to date you, I would have just asked you, Ms. Tamashi."

"But I thought he hired me because of you, because I knew you."

"Well, that's part of it, but I gave my recommendation for you because of your work ethic and intelligence. I do not… I do not share your feelings."

"I need to go sit down. This is… this is too much." She retreated back towards her room.

"Ms. Tamashi, I'm terribly sorry," he sighed, "God, I have to apologize to two women now."

"I don't understand," It was Kane.

Kurama jumped in shock and blinked a few times, "Ms. Kane! I wanted to apologize to you for how I acted."

"Mr. Minamino, why is she upset because she was hired by her own merits?"

"Because she thought I was in love with her but I'm not, she thought these," he wiggled the chocolate and flowers, "Were for her."

"You probably shouldn't carry such things around so freely then."

"Probably," he agreed, "These are for you Ms. Kane. I also wanted to offer to take you out for dinner."

"You wanted to go out for dinner?"

"The way I acted yesterday," he shook his head, "I'm really sorry, I was just stressed out and I took it out on you. I should've controlled myself."

"Stress makes us act in odd ways, I understood."

Kurama offered her the flowers and chocolates.

Kane eyed the flowers suspiciously before taking them. As they passed into her hand, he could feel her energy reach for them, and draw them into her range of control from his. For several seconds, neither of them could control the plant life because both had control. They canceled one another out. "Mr. Minamino," Kane cradled the flowers in her arm, and accepted the box of chocolates, "I do believe you're trying to make me fat."

He laughed, "Mm, no, I think you look fine."

"You hear that my pretties? He doesn't know I look fine, he thinks." Kane whispered to the flowers.

Kurama rolled his eyes, "You look fine Kane. I uh, I might need to talk to Ms. Tamashi," he mused quietly.

"Alright, well, since you're not upset with me any longer I suppose I'll see you later."

"Do you want to go out for dinner?"

"I don't know. It's up to you. Honestly I'm not sure what that means."

"It means, we go out to a restaurant and have dinner." He offered.

"A restaurant, which is those places that cook food for humans en masse. Hm. Why would that be special?"

"I'd be taking you to a very nice restaurant with delicious meats."

"But they'd never be able to make them like you can."

Kurama's mouth opened and he smiled, "Would you like to come to my place for dinner then?"

She nodded.

He smiled, "Alright, want to meet in the lobby after work then?"

"And risk your father also figuring out where I live? I think not. I'll just meet you there."

"Okay," He nodded, "I think I'm going to check on Ms. Tamashi briefly, is there anything you need before I do that?"

"I don't think so." Kane stroked the petals of one of the flowers with her fingertip, smiling.

Kurama left her alone to briefly check on the weeping fangirl, quick to get out of there so he wouldn't be snatched up, "I'll see you later then Kane," he called as he hid back in his office.

When Kurama got home Kane was already there, but she waited out back sipping some water having clearly been inside for the glass and water, but deciding not to stay there. Kurama opened the porch door, and sighed.

"What would you like for dinner?"

"Hm? Whatever you're comfortable making is fine."

Kurama made his way out to lean on the fence, "Today was an interesting day."

"Was it? What happened to you aside from that girl?"

"That girl made the majority of my day." Kurama rubbed his face, "She kept coming to my office and trying to convince me I loved her."

"That's unfortunate."

"And then she tried to kiss me so I had to lock my door." Kurama sighed, "Those girls never give up."

"And here I thought she was beginning to understand." Kane shrugged, "I guess I was wrong."

"She almost did kiss me too, she snagged my cheek." Kurama shook his head, "She was aiming for my lips though, I knew she was. Needless to say, I ran home today."

Kane laughed, "Afraid of a little human affection?"

"I'm afraid of a woman mounting me because she's still convinced that I might have feelings for her."

"Couldn't you just file sexual harassment charges or something?"

"I could but she has a good work ethic. I really don't want to do that to her, but if she persists, I might have to."

"But, wouldn't your father just talk to her about her behavior if you did file a charge?"

"I want to see if I can just get the point across myself."

"I see."

"Yes, so," he sighed, "I'm going to go change into something a little more comfortable and cook some dinner, I'll be back in a few minutes. Are you staying here again, Kane?"

"I was hoping so."

"You're welcome to stay Kane." He smiled and left the porch. He journeyed upstairs and sighed as he opened the bedroom door. He was relieved Kane wasn't too terribly upset with him, and the flowers and chocolate had seemed to make things better. He gave a silent thanks to Yusuke for not letting him get drunk. Having Kane back gave him a tinge of excitement through his gut as he thought about seeing her about the house. He tried to shake the ideas out of his head as he freed himself from his shirt and pants. He paused as he slipped into his pants and let himself quietly muse. How long would she stay here? Surely she enjoyed his company, he enjoyed hers. She'd come back, so that meant something. He pulled on a shirt and headed back downstairs and made his way back onto the porch.

Kane smiled over her shoulder up at him, "Hi there."

He smiled, "Hello. So, no special requests for dinner?"

"No. I was afraid after today you didn't want me back, inviting me to dinner like that."

"I was worried you didn't want to come back." He admitted quietly.

She laughed, stood, and came over to him wrapping her arms around his waist smiling down at him, "Where else do I have to go?"

"Oh I don't know," he shrugged, leaning against her, looking up at her, "I'm sure Yusuke would let you sleep there."

"I've never met him before. I don't know what he's really like."

"He's a good person." Kurama smiled, "He's helped a lot of people."

"That's nice and all, but I would have sooner gone back to the streets than accept help from a stranger I've never met."

"I suppose that's true." He nodded, "Or Genkai's Temple, but it's so far," he shook his head.

"I wouldn't rely on Genkai's Temple with it being so far away."

"Yeah," He sighed and rested his head against her, "It's a nice temple."

"Yup."

Kurama took a deep breath, "Well, I should get started on dinner at some point."

She released his waist and stepped back, "I suppose."

Kurama left the porch a little too quickly, flushed as he made his way to the kitchen and started poking through the fridge and cabinets for things to cook. He eventually settled on a simple dish with chicken.

She came in after him by a few minutes and settled down at the kitchen table to watch.

Kurama glanced at her when she sat down and set a water glass down next to her, going back to the cooking, "So, Kane, how's your work going?"

"Good, really good. I've almost got it tweaked so that it doesn't just go off when emotions are high, which is good because a few of our tests went horribly wrong because of that."

"Is Kokota a good test subject?"

"For the most part, but he has some issues following instructions properly."

"I'd imagine so." He nodded, "I'm glad he's good for the most part though."

"It's just the translation stuff, you know?"

"Yeah, that gets everyone."

"Are you going to tell the rest of your family up front or are you going to keep secrets between the wedded?"

"I… I'll tell Father and Kokota eventually."

"Eventually huh? Well eventually I might be able to convince someone to sell me a house too, but eventually sure seems like a longshot."

He chuckled, "I will, I'll tell them."

"Sure you will."

Kurama rolled his eyes as he leaned against the counter, watching the chicken cook, "I will."

"How is your work coming?"

"Slowly but surely." He nodded.

"Slow and steady wins the race?"

"It does." He smiled, "It does." he stirred the chicken a little and sighed, "One thing at a time."

"You know, if you admitted what you were, you could help me develop human technology faster."

"I could." He agreed, "I was thinking about that. I just," he shrugged, "I enjoy being treated as a human. It's fascinating seeing humans."

"Is it?"

"It is when you grow up among them."

"Huh. I might have to try that some time."

"It's difficult at first." He sighed. He shifted and sorted through the cabinet to add a few things to the chicken. When he felt it was finished he plated up their dishes and set them down on the table.

Kane smiled, "You know, if you had taken me out to dinner it would have been an adventure. You would have been trying to hide what you are, and who you are, while I sat across from you clearly what I am, and we'd be talking about work the entire time because we don't want people knowing we live together."

"Exactly." He laughed and gave himself a glass of water before turning off the stove and putting the pan in the sink. He sat down heavily and nodded, "Ta da," he chuckled.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." He took a bite and smirked, "You'll like this."

She nibbled her first bite but nodded and began to eat regularly.

Kurama let them eat in silence for awhile before he spoke up, "I can take you to a restaurant just for the experience."

"No, I think not. I would rather be comfortable with you here enjoying your food than suspicious of poison, watching what I say, and getting stared at by humans."

"Alright," he smiled, "That's good. Restaurants are expensive."

"So, did your mom speak with you today?"

"Oh, briefly." He nodded.

"So nothing serious?"

"Not really no."

"Does that mean you're not mad at me any longer?"

"Not at all," he shook his head, "I'm pleased you forgave me for what I did."

"Well, I am sorry I shared your personal information. I didn't want to. I want you to believe that."

Kurama shrugged and let himself eat for a few minutes, unsure how to respond to that.

She picked up conversation before he had a chance to find the right response. "She came to me pleading for the information, threatening that she'd get it somewhere else, and levied my test subject over me. In a way, she made it a no-lose situation aside from breaking your confidence, but, it was either that, or let your mother search out demons to find her answers. She was going to love you no matter what, and she does love you, all of you, like she said, so..." Kane sighed, "I guess I'm trying to justify sharing your secret, but was it really that secret when she could go to literally any demon, and all of them would know the truth?"

Kurama grunted, taking a sip of water. He wasn't sure how to respond to that, "I don't want to start this again."

"I just, I don't think you heard my side yesterday."

Kurama nodded, chewing slowly on his food. He swallowed and sighed, "I'm sorry."

"I am too."

Kurama sighed, "I… I. Kane, I was," he flushed, "I was wondering if you'd like to go for a walk."

She shrugged, "If you want." She finished eating and drank her water quickly.

"Uh." He frowned, "Kane," he didn't want to admit that? He sighed, "I like you Kane."

"Like, romantically?" Kane asked, flushed.

"Uh huh," Kurama took a large bite to keep from talking.

"You mean you find me attractive?"

"I do, but I also like you."

"That's going to be difficult," Kane mused cupping her glass, leaning back on her chair.

"Yeah?"

"Well I have my home in Demon World and you have your home here."

"Yeah," He nodded, "But, I mean, you're here, now."

"Yeah, but would it really be possible for me to stay here forever? What if humans start having issues?"

"Not forever."

"Well eventually you're going to be running this company so your parents can retire."

"But when my Mother dies I'm going to retire to Demon World."

"Oh, so you'll come home eventually."

"Yes." He nodded.

Kane sighed, "I suppose that wouldn't be too bad."

Kurama sighed as well and took a long sip of water, rubbing his head. That'd be difficult for her, considering Shiori would live for several decades, and while that filled him with happiness, he also felt stuck with his attraction to Kane, "It'd be a long while. Would you be interested in something like that."

"I don't plan on leaving very quickly, but I do want to go home eventually to continue progressing in my native technology."

"I want to go home some day." He agreed, "I mean, would you be interested in like… Do you like me?"

Kane flushed and couldn't keep her eyes on him. She dropped them to her empty plate. She'd cleaned house once she realized she liked it. "I'm not sure I want to make life any harder than it already is. Living together like this, going to work together, it's, it's going to get complicated fast if we both liked one another. I mean, as it is, your mother figured out we live together somehow, and your step-brother keeps teasing me about you. Could you imagine what that woman would do if she actually had real competition?" Kane's voice was weak as she spoke, like she didn't really want to say what she was saying.

"I don't want that woman dictating your actions. She's just desperate." Kurama sighed, "You don't have to… you know. I just wanted to know."

"I don't have to...?"

"I don't know Kane. I just know that I like you and," he shrugged, "I'd hope you'd like me the same way I like you," he frowned, "If that makes any sense."

"It does, and I can't say I don't."

Kurama flushed a bright red and cleared his throat, "So, maybe you'd like to try something?"

"Only if we can figure out a setup that doesn't compromise your identity here."

"At this point, I'm not too concerned. The people I wanted to keep it from know now. Hey, it might get Ms. Tamashi off my back forever."

"What do you mean? You mean you are just going to stop caring if people know?"

"It's- it's not as high of a concern now. I mean, I won't tell everyone and anyone, but it's the least of my worries."

"So what's the most?"

Kurama shrugged, "My mother's safety."

"Do you think she's somehow endangered?"

"I always know she's somehow endangered. I mean, her life has been threatened so many times," he shook his head.

"To get after you?"

"Yes. To get to me. During the Dark Tournament my mother was threatened, Yomi threatened her," he sighed. He didn't like to think about those times, it still made his stomach boil thinking about it, but most of the threats were spread out and rare and just a weak demon looking to scare him. But the threat was still there.

"Well now that she knows what you are, you can protect her better."

"That's very true." Kurama sighed, "So Kane, did you enjoy dinner?"

"Yes, I did. You always cook well."

Kurama smiled, "How are you Kane?"

"Didn't we already do that?" Kane asked, smirking. He heard her tail thump a few times against the legs of the chair.

Kurama shrugged, "Maybe, maybe not."

"I'm doing fine Kurama, how are you?"

He nodded, "I'm alive. Did you ever get around to eating your chocolates? Did you enjoy them?"

"I wasn't sure if you were going to accept me back here actually so I left them tucked away in the lab for safe keeping." She admitted, staring at the table. She started tracing the patterns in the wood with a finger. "I couldn't bring something like that with me if I didn't have somewhere to stay."

"Oh, that's alright." He nodded, "I bought the nicest ones, they're a variety pack so it's a little of everything. Do you like it here?"

"Human World would be better if I could actually interact without freaking people out all the time. It seems like everywhere I go to do things that typical humans would do, I get stared at or people come up to me asking to touch my ears or my tail. I sort of want to make a sign I can hold up that says 'I'm sorry but no, my ears and tail are like boobs or a penis. They're not for strangers to touch' just so I don't have to explain it again."

"Just tell them you're cosplaying." Kurama frowned, "Or hide them. Humans don't deal with demons well. People are startled by Hiei even, and he looks very human."

"I really don't like hiding my ears and my tail is so long I'd have to wear skirts all the time to hide it. I am not doing that."

"Or just ignore them." He shrugged, "Just say no and walk away."

"I tried that once, but they chased after me asking for an explanation. Humans are incredibly brazen."

"Just tell them to back the fuck off."

Kane sighed and leaned forward on the table staring at him, but nodded.

"It's not easy, I know. I mean, I never had to deal with it myself ever, really, but I've seen Hiei get worked up with girls wanting to touch his tattoo and pet his hair and he just snaps at them and they leave him alone."

"They're not so willing with me. I think half of it is because I'm female. If my back is to them and they don't see my chest, they're more likely to back off quicker."

"You should take lessons from Hiei," Kurama mused, "I'm sorry they do that to you, it is really annoying."

"That's not the hard part about living here though, that's just annoying. The hard thing is I can't have a house or reliably shop in stores. It's much easier living here with you because you can do those things for me."

Kurama smiled softly at her, "I'm glad it's easier for you. I like your company."

"And I like yours too."

Kurama flushed a little but still managed to smile, "I'm glad."

"Are you," Kane shifted her weight and sat up stuffing her hands in her lap, "Kurama, are you going to court me?" She flushed red like a cherry and her lips pursed shut tight like she immediately regretted bringing up the awkward topic.

"Uh," Kurama blinked a few times, "I-I really like you Kane. I don't know if I'd necessarily court you entirely like we would do as foxes."

Her ears fell, plastering themselves against her head. Whatever he said next would be muffled to her, she wasn't ready to listen after hearing that. Kane stood and crossed to the patio door staring outside, her arms folded over her chest, "Fo-forget it. Forget I said anything." One of her ears flipped towards him.

"Did that upset you?"

She shook her head, her ponytail flipping, "It doesn't matter."

"No, Kane, I want to know."

"A bit," she admitted quietly.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."

"I understand. That's why it doesn't matter."

"Might I ask what exactly upset you?"

"Well, I thought- I thought you might want to try a relationship somehow, that you might consider me something special to you like that, but, if that's not the case..." She sighed.

"No! Kane I'd love to try a relationship with you!" Kurama exclaimed, "I just, I don't want to rush too quickly into anything like I might've in my old days. I want to enjoy it."

Kane reached out and touched the glass of the door staring down at the patio, "I see."

"Kane, I," he sighed, "I'd love to be able to court you like a fox, I want to, but," he shook his head, "I just, I have a life here I can't ignore entirely. I hope you understand in some way."

"I do, I just, I just always thought that I'd have that. To me, it's always seemed like a time to really get to know someone well, to postpone and avoid rushing like you say. Maybe we have different perspectives of it because of our genders."

"I think the genders probably learn it differently too," he mused, "I could… I would, but I don't want to struggle so hard and make myself miserable because I'm running between lives." He caught her eyes in the reflection on the glass, "I told myself a few years ago I wouldn't go back to that. I wouldn't be Youko Kurama the Infamous Bandit. I'm Shuichi and Kurama now. I don't," he frowned, "I guess I'm going off topic here, but I hope you understand it."

"It just makes me believe you don't know me very well."

"Not entirely. Part of me just wants to take the risk honestly."

"I wouldn't accept the flower until you knew me better I don't think. As much as I'd enjoy going there, I don't- I don't want to enter into that sort of commitment without you understanding what you're signing up for."

"I think I understand for the most part, but I don't want to be running across Demon World for a certain type of stone," he rubbed his face, "But I do." he shook his head, "Don't lead two lives Kane."

"So you both simultaneously do and don't want to go shiny hunting?" Kane turned to look over her shoulder at him, curious.

"Yeah." He nodded.

"Maybe you should save up for some jewelry," Kane offered.

Kurama just glanced at her, "What exactly do you do besides work for the company?"

"I'm not sure what you mean," She grabbed her glass from the table and re-filled it with water. Sitting back down again, she studied him. "I work for my friend and that's it. I don't really take free time."

"So you just work?"

"That's what humans would consider it, yes. I enjoy the creative process invention allows me. That's why I know my shit so well."

"So," Kurama frowned, "You don't have any hobbies?"

"Technology is my hobby. Once I get a better grasp of how human energy sources can be used to power demon technology in cheap manners, I hope to advance barriers to be run on batteries. My latest project here is attempting to figure out how to create energy-rechargeable batteries, and the applications back home will be endless. You won't have to be powered up to use technology or tap into the user's energy in things like the pods. We might even be able to start bringing back people after they've been near death for longer periods of time if I'm successful in creating a battery that can plug into existing machines that operate such things and is small, and strong enough to withstand the amount of energy needed to run such things." Kurama could hear the excitement in her voice, and the way her ears had perked up and she sat forward using her whole torso to explain it to him offered up just how deeply she was engaged with the topic. He felt lucky his dishwasher wasn't disassembled.

Kurama grinned as he watched her, hiding it behind his water glass, when she was finished he raised an eyebrow, "So you really like technology?"

Kane flushed and nodded sheepishly.

Kurama smiled, "At home, do you have technology you play around with?"

"Sure, then Ichiko sells it after I've taught others how to reproduce it. Usually he comes to me with requests for some sort of product though. The last time I was able to pick my own project was probably when I started work on the breathing apparatus for the longevity tanks."

"Do you like making technology that helps people mostly or destroys people?" He frowned.

"Help, usually. I mean, my pet project in private that I've been working on is a barrier maker, but it's difficult to develop it in a way that can utilize all energies." She fished around in her pants under her sash and pulled out a small floppy metal thing. It had three hoops sticking out of a circuit board which had a couple living plants on it, and was pure demon techology. "This is supposed to function as a sound barrier. The basic principle is that our energy can negate energies coming towards us, or out from us by catching it or deflecting it. Sound waves are easily caught in terms of energy so if you can create a loop of energy emitted from a single source," she pointed towards the device, "and amplify the strength into a stable pulse, it should be able to block out noise waves by reflection." Kane put her hand on the tail of the circuit and he watched as the three floppy hoops stood on end equidistant from one another and the table. Kane's mouth continued to move, but he couldn't hear her. It looked like she was talking about how they couldn't hear one another.

Kurama blinked a few times and waved at her, pointing to the floppy device and her mouth.

Kane smiled and nodded enthusiastically, releasing the button. "See? So I'm trying to create a more stable version than this because these," she picked it up by a loop, "are an alloy that stabilizes energy, the more you have the more solid your energy becomes, however, they're easily bendable so you could end up with a dent in your barrier. Also, my capacitors tend to fry for anything over a sound barrier or a high C class energy signature."

"Huh. It's definitely fascinating."

"In a perfect world I could get my capacitors strong enough to hold even an S class charge, but it's unlikely considering their limits are about 1,500 watts of energy. Also," she pushed the little device over to him. "Touch the string." When he reached out and touched it like she had done to activate the barrier, only two of the loops popped up, the third one tried to pop up, but kept tapping against the counter, "It doesn't really work that well for anyone but me." He could hear her, but her voice was quieter. He let go of the string.

Kurama smiled, "I'm going to go grab something really quick, I'll be right back." He excused himself from the room and hurried upstairs as excitement started to make his stomach bubble. He could feel the fluttering in his chest as he opened the dresser drawer closest to the ground, where Hiei normally stashed his clothes that he either just forgot or wanted Kurama to fix. He shuffled around a bit before he found the little box he'd only ever touched a few times.

He pulled it out with a shaky hand and lifted the lid to it gently, peering inside. Both seeds were still there, and he sighed in relief. He quickly removed one of the seeds, stashing it into another box in the drawer before closing it. He shifted the seed a little and closed the top of the box, hurrying back down the stairs. Kurama made a quick stop by a little storage closet he had and poked around for a pot. When he was satisfied, he made his way to the kitchen. He could barely contain his excitement as he slowed down and hid it behind his back, coming into the room with a soft step. If he didn't have a human heart he could've sworn in his demon form he'd be having a heart attack or something, but he was alright. "Kane?"

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Kane asked focusing on him.

Kurama made his way over to the table and set down the pot, followed by the little box.

Kane blinked and then looked up at him, questioningly. "You don't need to take risks like this Kurama."

"There isn't a risk involved in this Kane."

"But you were just saying earlier how there was. I could ask you to do anything."

"I know you'll only ask of me what you really want, and know I can handle."

"You don't think I'll ask you to do anything you can't handle?" Kane focused on the pot again, examining the seed. She bumped it gently into her hand feeling it.

"I trust you won't because we share a common cause here Kane."

She smiled. "I'm glad you can trust me like that Kurama." He could barely tell the beats apart when he saw the little bit of green sprout from the seed. It grew into a tiny little seedling with two leaves outstretched, roots twisting out of it's butt like snakes. Kane lay it gently in the pot he provided, and pulled out another seed. She set that in the bottom of the pot as well, under the roots, and grew it into moss encasing the seedling in a thick bed of moss holding it tight. She wet the moss in the sink, careful of the plant, and dried the underside of the leaves after watering it. Kane set it on the window sill and left his side going to her coat.

She dug around for a little while before coming back with a small, square box much like the one he'd had upstairs. The ornate design of the box belied its importance, and when she pulled it open, he saw exactly what was inside. A little pot, and a single seed safely inside the pot. She pulled it out and held it out to him. Kurama blinked and took it carefully, examining it.

"I never really thought it was fair that the women had to think up challenges that would help them love men better."

Kurama rustled through his hair for a seed and paused when the seedling started to grow like the other one had. He paused to watch it before he continued and repeated what she had done, setting that one a little ways away from the one he'd given her. It was easy to tell whose was whose because of the pots. Hers was the same black and gold ornate style her box had, with golden scrollwork around the edging of the pot. His was silver and red with the red being the accent for the scrollwork that covered his entire pot. "I like that thought."

"It'll give us a little bit of fair play I think."

"I think so." Kurama smiled and shifted, "So, now," he frowned.

"Well," Kane sighed and started clearing off the plates from the table, rinsing hers off watching the seedlings. "I need to think about what I could ask of you because honestly I have no idea."

"Same." He nodded.

"I had all these ideas about what I'd ask if someone ever courted me. Oh, I'd ask them for starlight, or a fossil, or maybe a sapphire, maybe a once in a lifetime chance to do something dangerous, or to come with me somewhere to show them off, but honestly, none of that fits. I want something much simpler from you."

He smiled, "I'm curious to see what you have in store for me. In the meantime," he scooted in beside her to rinse his plate off, "We'll just have to wait and see what happens."

"Yeah." Kane finished cleaning off her plate and set it aside to dry.

Kurama glanced at her before he popped up and kissed her on the cheek, going back to his dish casually like nothing happened.

Kane wasn't so casual about it. She held her cheek and stared at him, her eyes wide.

He looked at her for a moment, grinning, but he tried to hide it, "I'm glad you enjoyed dinner Kane."

"You're a good chef." She flushed harder and finally broke away from staring at him to go sit down, where she resumed staring at him. "Kurama, are you, at all, a man of beliefs which say there is such thing as fate?"

"Somewhat." He shrugged, "I've been skeptical, I've believed it was real, every end of the spectrum really."

"Where are you now?"

"I'm in the middle."

"And what does that leave you with? How would you describe it?"

"I think fate does and doesn't exist. It controls some things and other things, not so much."

"What do you believe it controls?"

"Absolute things, like life and death."

"Why?"

"I just do Kane. So," he frowned, "Would you mind getting kissed?"

"No, I don't mind that."

Kurama wiped off his hands on a towel and gently tugged her close to lean up and kiss her on the lips.

Kane leaned away after a moment and touched her lips, her face turned just a couple handfuls of degrees away from his as she contemplated the feeling.

He waited, curious how she'd respond.

"Um, what-uh, what is your favorite color?" Kane swallowed, the flush deep in her cheeks.

Kurama laughed, "Green."

"Really? Green? Not red? I suppose you couldn't turn your human hair green though, could you? I mean, red, sure, they have red hair in Ireland or wherever, but green isn't a human hair color. I'm not sure if any animals have green fur even. I mean, sure, in our world they might, but I think here it's just if they're light, like white, and they end up with a moss or rolling in cut grass pigment or something. I don't really think it's a thing."

Kurama blinked at her, "I like green for plants. I just choose red hair because it was unique."

"Oh." Kane said quietly.

He chuckled, "I don't think green hair is a thing."

Kane retreated back to her spot at the table.

Kurama watched her go and washed up the rest of the dinner dishes before he made his way over and sat across from her, just letting his eyes roam over her. She shifted uncomfortably when he got his eyes on her neck, which wasn't very long after the roaming began. The more he looked, the more she squirmed in her spot, her tail flicking over her lap.

"Do I make you nervous?"

"W-well you didn't before, I just, I don't know." She shook her head and stroked her tail.

"I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

"I shouldn't be uncomfortable, I don't know why I'm uncomfortable. I'll get over it. Just, I don't know. I'll get over it," she nodded, her ponytail swishing.

Kurama chuckled and rested his chin in his palm, "Mm, okay. Do you want to watch a movie or something?"

"Yes!" she squeaked a little too loud, flushed, and coughed, "Yeah, that'd, that would be better than sitting here staring at one another," she laughed and he could see her ears flop back from her mental scolding.

Kurama got up and offered her a hand, "What kind of movie?"

Kane took it, her hand sweaty in his. She didn't use his help to get up, just flushed hard and didn't hear a word he said staring at their hands clasped together.

Kurama lead her out and let her go so he could pick a movie, "A comedy? Action adventure?"

"Doesn't matter." Kane sat on the edge of the couch watching him intently. He doubted she heard him again, but decided it didn't really matter. Chances were, she wouldn't notice which movie he picked.

Kurama picked one of his favorite romantic comedies and stuck it in. He clicked around on the remote until it started working and he came over to the couch to sit beside her and start the movie.

About halfway through the previews, Kane slinked closer, curling up against his side and stole his hand lacing their fingers together. She sighed heavily once she was close, and he felt the tension in her shoulders loosen until she was awkwardly supported, but refusing to move.

Kurama wrapped an arm over her shoulder and pulled her closer, kissing her head.

"I- you're- you're serious about this."

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"I just, I had this guy who I used to know, and we, we always had this really good, stable relationship, and I tried to court him, and he accepted, but he, he wasn't serious about it."

"Well I am."

"If we both get them grown, then we'll be..." she didn't finish the sentence, just let it hang.

"If you're not serious, I suggest you back out," he offered bluntly.

"No!" Kane sat up and caught his arms holding him to face her, their eyes locked, "No, I'm serious too! It's just, it's taking time to sink in. I never thought I'd court someone again, I never imagined I'd find someone, let alone someone in Human World, I mean, I never expected it to happen, and then of all the people, I-. It's a lot to take in."

Kurama nodded, "It is."

"And even after I screwed your life over."

"It was going to happen eventually." He shrugged.

"I'm sorry." She released his arms and lost half of her posture, slumping.

"Don't apologize."

"But I hurt you. I mean, I broke your confidence, despite it being common knowledge."

"Just don't bring it up."

Kane's tail wrapped around her waist and she folded her hands over it. "How can I not bring it up when it's always going to be there between us until we talk about it?"

"I don't want to talk about it right now." He really didn't.

Kane sighed and turned to watch the movie, "Alright."

Kurama snuggled back up to her and sighed when they settled down for the movie.


	6. Chapter 6 Pregnancy

Yusuke called. It was rare that the phone ever rang, but today, of all the people, Yusuke was calling him. Usually the only time the phone ever rang was when Kurama called, but today, it was Yusuke. Hiei had answered the phone with his typical "What do you want Fox?" only to get a chirpy, nervous man who should be dead.

"Uh, yeah, hey Hiei, it's Yusuke. Usually you answer the phone with something like 'Hello' not 'what do you want,' just manners man." Hiei could hear the nervousness in his voice.

"What do you want," he lightened his tone and pointedly added, "Detective," to the sentence.

"Well, not really what I want, uh, do you remember how old you are?"

"No. Why?" There was no way in the three, or four, or twelve worlds he was ever going to try to remember his age. that was the last thing he wanted to remember. Sure, he had a vague idea, but he was not going to remember exactly which year he was born. Not now, not ever.

"Well, FYI, you're one hundred."

"And?" He could feel his irritation growing. The detective was skirting around some issue and he didn't like it.

"You have a sister Hiei. Your sister is a Koorime, Hiei."

"What about it?" Hiei glanced about the room curious where Vena had gotten off to. She usually wasn't far.

"Koorime reproduce asexually when they turn one hundred."

"What?" his face blanched, his stomach turned, his whole body froze like ice, and he couldn't decide if he needed to cure his panic with blood or a boiling fire.

"Yukina is pregnant!" Yusuke squeaked.

Hiei dropped the phone and was out of the bug halfway to Human World before he realized he probably should have grabbed his cloak. His arms chilled from the pace, but he didn't slow, he had to get to Yukina. If she really was pregnant then every demon for miles around would smell her and either want to rape her or kill her and neither of those things was going to happen to his sister. Yukina would be protected.

When he reached the temple, he was panting, sweating, and freezing all at the same time. He shrugged off his temperature and rose it as he leaned against his favorite watching tree. No demons were around, at least, not yet. It was just the oaf and Yukina in the shrine. Hiei wanted to chase down the detective and murder him for not telling him sooner, but he doubted Yusuke knew before today. The musky scent of new life still hung in the air like a miasma.

It was slow, but eventually, the shrine door opened and Yukina came out with the oaf close behind. She glanced around before her eyes settled on Hiei's tree and she smiled, "Hiei! Hiei, why don't you come down?"

Oh no, there was no way in hell he was going down there with the oaf and Yukina both there. He was quite happy to stay out of that mess and ignore the fact that Yukina seemed to have developed feelings for the orange haired man. He would do fine up away from them, hiding in the trees. He barricaded off his energy from them and switched trees.

"Hiei! Please come down!"

"It's no use 'Kina, he's not coming down."

"Please Hiei! I want to see you!" Yukina called.

God if only he could tune her out. He really did not want to deal with all of their social decorum. He was sure to mess up somehow just by standing.

"Oh Hiei, come down! I have some tea brewing!"

"Come on Yukina, let's leave him alone for a while, he's not coming down without a reason. If he's still here tonight, we can try to give him a place to stay."

"No!" Yukina shook her head, "I haven't seen you in so long Hiei! Please come down!"

He didn't want to admit it, but it was good to see her. She was right, he hadn't actually spoken to her in person in a while, even though he often checked up on her with the eye, or even came to see her in person once in awhile. As it was, they hadn't been face to face where she could see him in several years.

"Yukina," Kuwabara rested a gentle hand on her shoulder, "he'll fold eventually if you're patient. No one can deny you what you really want."

Yukina sighed heavily, "Alright, I'll go check on the tea then."

"Alright, I'll see if I can get him to come down." Kuwabara looked to Hiei's new tree rather than the old one Yukina had been staring at.

Hiei stiffened, and got to his feet ready to leave again. Once Yukina was out of sight, he shifted his weight testing to see how stable the branch was and found he'd chosen well.

"Hiei, I know you and I haven't always been on the best of terms, but I'd like to think that we both take it as a bantering between allies, like me and Urameshi got. If you break her heart, and don't come down and visit face to face, I swear, I will do everything in my power to break you two away from one another, and I know how often you come check up on her." Kuwabara dropped his chin and glared up at him like he really meant it. Hiei could feel the energy leaking from the man, the solidification of the threat.

Hiei sighed, but didn't come down. Kuwabara turned away, threat complete, and rejoined his wife. He spent the next several hours debating with himself about whether he should actually come down or not.

Yukina and Kuwabara had taken their tea outside, with an extra cup, but Yukina hadn't called him down again. Apparently she was content just knowing where he was, so, he let his energy drift to the two of them, and watched the far side of the temple on alert ready to attack if any demons came too close to their little nest.

There was a soft squeak of the branch before a loud scream filled the air. Tumbling down towards Human World was Hiei's favorite redhead. The scream sent spikes through his spine and before he realized what he was doing, he caught the girl having leapt through the tree at a propelled speed, and landed safely on the ground to reduce momentum gradually and not hurt her. That was when he realized his decision was made for him.

Standing with Vena in his arms, he faced Yukina and Kuwabara who both sat with their cups half-raised to their lips, staring blankly.

"You bastard!" Vena shouted, smacking him hard on the chest, "You left me! Do you know how hard it is to get from Demon World to Human World through shadows? It's very hard!"

"You could've just used a portal then gone into the shadows here," Hiei couldn't help the comment, he felt like his head was splitting apart. They still stared at him and he stared back, his arms wrapped under Vena's leg and back, cradling her against his chest.

She smacked him against said chest several times. "These shadows are also hard to navigate! They're like, weird and empty!"

"Stop," he said in time with her smacking. She wasn't doing it hard, but it still took three "stop" to get her to actually hear he said "stop," and stop. He dragged his eyes away from Yukina and Kuwabara to look her in the eye, "You made it, that's all that matters." He doubted he would have ever figured out she was gone.

"And I almost broke my neck falling like that!"

"We're in Human World, I'm not just going to go walking around on the ground. The trees are much safer here." He felt his heart-rate slow as he focused on her rather than Yukina and Kuwabara's shocked, dumb expressions.

"You're still a fucking bastard!" She squirmed to get out of his arms.

Hiei set her down on her feet and backed out of the way of another couple hits, just dancing around her. He positioned himself between her and his sibling, and took the hit that came after he was in place, grabbing her wrist as she pulled back for another one all the while ranting about something or another that he wasn't listening to.

"Hey who the fuck are these people?" Vena frowned, shifting to look around Hiei, "Hey, are these your family or something?"

Hiei couldn't help the heavy sigh, "I'm an orphan, I don't have family."

"Liar," Kuwabara set his tea-cup aside and stood. "He's got a sister. Never met her though, just heard about her once."

"What? Really?" Vena frowned.

Hiei flushed and stiffened.

"You have a sister Hiei?" Yukina stood by Kuwabara's side, her light teal hair reflecting in the dim light of the afternoon.

"You two look pretty similar," she pointed between Hiei and Yukina, "Or maybe it's the Human World shadows, those things are insane."

"I'm actually looking for my lost brother," Yukina smiled, "Maybe he's been closer than I thought."

"This is, no, we're not doing this." Hiei turned Vena by the shoulders and marched her towards the woods.

"Hey, hey, hey! She's cute!" Vena yelled.

"Hiei! Please don't go. We've barely gotten to know your new friend," Yukina's voice stopped him dead in his tracks.

"Yeah!" Vena disappeared and after about a minute reappeared beside Yukina, using her shadow, "Aren't you a cutie?"

Yukina smiled, "So are you Hiei's mate?"

"I'm his girlfriend."

Kuwabara whistled, "Shrimp has a girl? Never thought I'd see the day."

Hiei stayed at the edge of the courtyard, unwilling to leave and unwilling to approach. He didn't want to encourage them to engage him in conversation and he really didn't want to leave either. Yukina, despite being dangerously close to putting it together, was still pregnant and he couldn't leave her alone.

"Of course he has a girl. He's Hiei, why wouldn't he have a girl?"

"Uh, we are talking about the same guy right? The one right over there?" Kuwabara pointed at him and he felt himself flush and step back.

"Yeah, totally."

"He's like, practically an ameba when it comes to anything, you know, hanky panky."

"Nah, we make out all the time."

Kuwabara laughed, "You're serious? You make out with that? He doesn't boil your tongue off?"

"Well, he gets really, really, warm?"

Yukina left the two and walked up to him, her arms folded over her chest, she smiled, "It's nice to see you again Hiei, come join us."

His stomach felt like it was going through a blender. He swallowed, his cheeks red, and stepped forward following Yukina back to the others.

"Oh come on, you've got to be joking. I've seen him look at women who I would die to see even half-nude and not even so much as flush. I mean, if it wasn't for my Yukina that is. "

"Well he sure as hell likes me! Especially when I walk around mostly nude." She snickered.

"Vena," Hiei frowned, "don't talk about that." it was bad enough she knew him so intimately, but to talk about it, in front of her was too much to handle.

"What? Why? We're just having fun."

"Yeah Hiei, what's wrong?" Kuwabara prodded too.

"Just, don't." He couldn't explain it, not right now anyway. Later, maybe, but not right now. Not in front of Yukina. She had her eyes fixed on him and hearing the tone of the conversation was like hearing a boulder coming down a closed hallway.

"Ah, he's just embarrassed." Vena waved him off and took a deep breath, "Hey, is someone pregnant?"

"I am! I thought that was why Hiei was here. Didn't he tell you? We called Yusuke this morning so he could tell Kurama and Hiei, then Hiei showed up so we just assumed Yusuke had called."

"So that's why you left!" Vena barked, "I was getting lunch and poof!"

Hiei huffed and turned his gaze to a more neutral location, Vena herself.

Kuwabara whistled again, "First time I've seen him do that. Usually he looks at the trees."

"Mm. Hey, how pregnant are you pretty lady?"

"Um, three days?" Yukina smiled shyly.

She grinned, "Congratulations."

"Thank you. Hopefully it'll be twins." She rubbed her stomach.

"Oh, you're one of those, Koorime aren't you? Did you two, uh," she chuckled.

"Yes, I really want to have a baby with Kazuma and we'll only get the one chance. By the time I'm two hundred, he'll be gone. I'm really happy we have this chance now though."

"Oh, how about you just turn into a demon?"

"I've seen what that can do to people." Kuwabara scratched his head, "We're still talking about it, but right now, that's not the plan."

"Hey, become a Shadow demon, we're real fun. We have our own secret universe."

"You can't just pick a type of demon you want to become. It has to match your energy and you have to have a method of getting a lock between your spirit energy and your demon energy. It's not that simple Vena." Hiei scolded. "Unless you want to become a mindless cabbage."

"Hey, cabbage is fun too," Vena shrugged.

"Fun to kill," Hiei scoffed.

"He speaks!" Kuwabara exclaimed. "He actually engages in conversation!"

Hiei flushed and glared at the man, but Kuwabara smirked and he couldn't bring himself to actually offer a come-back.

Vena hopped over to Hiei and wrapped her arms around the demon, kissing him on the mouth, "You're still a bastard."

Hiei pushed her away, his face cherry red and pulled one of her arms off, "No."

"Hey, why the hell not?"

"I'm not doing that here," He couldn't explain it any more than that. Meeting her eyes, he really hoped that she could see that this was far too embarrassing to handle.

"I just wanted a little kiss," she teased, "But fine, be that way!" she pushed him away and found her spot next to Kuwabara again.

"So what did you drug him with? You have any left? We've got this other friend, Kurama, who's just as shut in as Hiei is."

"My love is his drug?"

"Well I'm pretty sure that's not it, I mean, Yukina can't even really get him out of his shell. He doesn't act like an ass around her, but she can't get him socializing and stuff."

"It's really nice to see that he has someone he can relax with."

"Hey, you ever been to the Shadow realm?" Vena asked Kuwabara, tipping her head towards him.

"Yeah, why?"

"Just curious."

"I actually have got a sword that can cut through dimensions. The guy who put us there never intended for us to get out."

"Don't cut through me, it'll kill me." She chuckled, "Or shadows while I'm in them."

Kuwabara nodded, "It's not out all the time, just when I summon that power."

"Good." She nodded, "Dragon, what are we doing besides protecting the pretty pregnant lady?"

"Isn't that enough?" Hiei turned to check the forest again. Still clear of threats.

"Yeah, I guess."

"I can protect her Hiei, you don't have to stay here. It's not like she's giving birth tomorrow or nothing. You'll be here for a long time if you think you're staying until she gives birth."

"I heard a special someone has a baby?" Kurama came around to where they were standing, roses in tow.

"Fox," Hiei nodded.

Yukina smiled warmly and stood, "Oh Kurama those are beautiful!"

"Where's the war?" Kuwabara leaned back, relaxing even further with two out of three allies so close.

He grinned and shook his head, "Mm, mental war." He handed the roses to Yukina and kissed her forehead, "Congratulations."

"Vena, that is the fox I told you about," Hiei commented to the woman, touching her arm for a moment to get her attention to what he was saying.

"Oh, we have a new face," Kurama smiled, "Vena?" He offered his hand, and she took it with a firm grip.

"You suggested I hire a girlfriend," Hiei shrugged, "Mukuro called me on it, so she's not so hired anymore."

"Oh?"

"I'm his girlfriend." Vena shrugged.

Kurama whistled and grinned, "Mm, I'm glad you found someone Hiei."

Hiei smirked, "She's a shadow demon, Fox. I didn't just find anyone, I found a shadow demon." It was a taunt. Pure and simple. Kurama knew what shadow demons could do. Whenever the two of them got drunk or were plotting the destruction of Spirit World together, they always came up as the best for infiltrating vaults, hiding treasure, and stealing.

"Oooh, how wonderful," he purred, "I found a fox."

"You, what?"

"I found a fox."

"You can't be serious. There are two of you in Human World?"

"Yes and she's staying with me."

"Heh, figures."

"Wait, you have a girl living with you?" Kuwabara asked skeptically.

"We're courting." Kurama offered.

"What's that mean? You're suing her or something?"

"No, no, it's a fox thing. We are dating."

"Congratulations!" Yukina grinned and hugged him, "That's wonderful."

Kurama hugged her softly, rubbing her back as he held the girl close, "I expect Kuwabara is going to be a father."

"We're really hoping so, yes." Yukina stepped back and held her tummy smiling down at it.

"If you need energy, you know who's in town."

"Oh, of course, he might be easier to get inside with Vena here too." Yukina smiled.

"He'd be perfect for your energy needs."

"Do you know who Hiei's sister is?" Yukina asked curiously.

"Hm? Oh, well, it's not my place to say who she may or may not be."

"But you do know, don't you?"

"I do know who she is, and I do know her."

"Seriously?" Kuwabara stiffened, his face squeezing up into a sneer, "What's she look like?"

"She's very beautiful. She has the same red eyes, and she's a real sweetheart too." Kurama offered.

"There is no way they're both from the same parents," Kuwabara laughed, "Maybe Hiei's adopted or something."

"Mm, no, not exactly."

"I'm not adopted."

"No, he's not. He's just, he's Hiei."

"Wow, learn something new every day." Kuwabara sighed.

"Yes, yes we all learn something new every day," Kurama smiled and grinned at Yukina, "I'm so excited for you Yukina. Children can be such blessings. I know you'll be a wonderful mother, and Kuwabara will be a wonderful father."

"I really hope it all goes well. I'm worried about attracting too much attention to this peaceful place."

"You have very strong demon friends Yukina, and Kuwabara, I think everything will go well."

"Oh I hope so Kurama, I really do."

"I need to be off now, I have some things to do," Kurama smiled, "I'll come and say hello again soon," he pulled Yukina into another hug and gave Kuwabara a good pat on the shoulder, "Should I expect you Hiei?"

"Hn." Hiei huffed at the fox. He had no idea and he was admitting as much to the man who knew him so well.

"Alright, well, I'll cook a little extra for you both then." Kurama nodded, "It's good to see you Hiei."

"You too Fox."

Kurama touched his shoulder gently and gave it a squeeze before he turned and left, waving them goodbye.

Hiei sighed, with the fox gone it was back to the awkward situation of Vena not knowing Yukina was his sister.

Vena sighed, "Where are we staying Dragon?" She asked softly, shifting a little with the shadows so she could stand with her face mostly in one, which made her eyes glow a bit.

"Near the temple." Hiei pointed towards the woods.

"Nonsense! You can stay in the temple with us!" Yukina took Vena's arm, claiming the woman.

"Uh, alrighty then. You have a room that doesn't get a lot of morning light?" Vena chuckled, patting the girl's hand.

"Sure! We have several rooms on the south side that are barricaded in by the courtyard garden."

"Oh that'd be nice." Vena nodded, "Do you guys have like showers too?"

"Yes, we do. Genkai installed several full bathrooms when she was older. The temple had to go through renovations because of damage, so she just, added bathrooms. It cost a fortune to run plumbing up this far though."

"That's nice. Sweet, thank you."

"Hn, you do what you want, I'm not staying in the temple with that oaf."

"Oie! I am not some idiot any more Hiei! I am a veterinarian!"

"Suit yourself Dragon, I plan to wash my hair."

"Hn."

"That's going to take a lot of water though," She mused, "A lot of water. Uh," she eyed Kuwabara and Yukina, "Maybe I won't."

"Oh no, you're okay to wash your hair. We have two water heaters." she pointed at opposite ends of the compound.

"Sweet!" Vena grinned, "Do you guys have some dinner?" She was already started to undo her braid and tug at her bun, and Hiei could tell that his original estimate of the length of her hair was a little short.

Yukina nodded, "I can make you something if you're hungry. I know Hiei won't eat, but if you want..."

"Just a little something."

"Alright, come on inside and I'll show you around." Yukina led Vena away.


	7. Chapter 7 Answers

Kurama made it home after only an hour of running through Human World. He stopped in the garden to let his legs rest before entering the kitchen and toeing off his shoes. That was where he found her. Kane was pacing in the kitchen with her hands folded behind her back staring daggers into the ground.

"How are you?"

"Your brother needs to butt the fuck out." She'd come home after him, considerably after, so now he hadn't had a chance to hear how her day had been and apparently, it wasn't good.

"Uuh," Kurama frowned, "What'd he do?"

"He keeps pestering me about the flowers and my secret admirer, well, he can back the fuck off because I don't want to tell him who gave me the flowers or where they went! They were mine! He keeps saying I didn't like my admirer because I threw 'em out, but I didn't throw them out and I can't convince him of that because you, you! Might have grown things around them and seeing that it's possible to grow plants like that could help them figure out how you did it. Have you told your family yet?"

"Not entirely?" He winced, "Mother knows, obviously, but uh… I've been beating around the bush if you will."

"Well get on with it. She can't hold onto your secret forever. You've got to tell them you're a demon sooner than later."

"I know." He sighed, "I, really have kind of avoided them." He took a seat at the table and rubbed his legs, smoothing out his pants. He'd need to tell them eventually. He hadn't been wanting to break it to his stepfather yet. Mostly because he feared Hatanaka might up and leave his Mother, and he didn't want that to happen. He glanced at Kane and swallowed, nervous about her reaction.

Kane sighed and settled down at the table too, kicking back in her usual chair. "Yeah, well time is going to make it harder, not easier."

"I know. I'll get on it soon."

"Good, that way I can explain that the flowers came from seeds and seeds can go back to seeds." Kane nodded. "Unless you just want to give me more."

"Maybe I should head over really quick and rip it off like a band aid."

She nodded. "Do you want company?"

He considered it for a moment. With Kane it'd probably make it easier, or harder. He frowned but nodded after a moment, "Yes, please."

"I'm sure your father will be okay with it," Kane stood, "It's Kokota I'm worried about honestly. I mean, with Kazuya he really enjoys the knowledge and variety of life I bring because of what I am, but Kokota, he just gets flustered, confused, and envious."

"Let's go," He got up and offered a hand to Kane.

She took it and accompanied Kurama to Shiori's home. When they reached it, he knocked, a little sweaty from the run, but no worse for wear otherwise. It took all of five minutes for Shiori to answer the door. When she did, she had a towel in her hand, and laughed seeing the two of them, hand in hand, "Oh well is this a formal visit about some little secret you two haven't shared yet?"

"Um, maybe. Mother, I came to tell Kokota and father about, my, thing." Kurama frowned.

Shiori frowned, "You mean your ancestor thing? You're not here because you two are dating?"

"Well, that too." he nodded.

Kane flushed and jerked, surprised. "Oh, you're telling them that too?"

"Uh, yes?" His face fell.

"Okay then." Kane laughed and squeezed his hand, "I just wasn't expecting that."

"Who is it Shiori?" Kazuya came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist setting his head on her shoulder to peer at Kurama and Kane.

"It's just us Father. I have some things I want to discuss with you."

"Well come in, come in," Shiori and Kazuya stepped aside and soon all five of them were settled in the living room between two chairs, and a couch.

Kurama shifted nervously in his spot, tugging at the neck of his shirt, "Uh, do you remember the thing about me being a demon?"

"What? Oh, the guy who came here and accused you of that?" Kazuya nodded.

"Wait, I thought this was about the nerds dating." Kokota interrupted.

"We are dating." Kurama nodded, "But, there may have-"

"See! I told you her flowers were from him!" He jumped and pointed at Shiori, who waved him off.

"They were actually, I made Ms. Tamashi cry," he mused, "Anyways! There may have been some truth in that accusation."

"Wait, what accusation? That you two are dating or that you were a demon?"

"Th-the-" he swallowed, "Demon."

"The latter." Kane affirmed.

"So, Kane lied to us?"

"I lied to you."

"Well that doesn't matter, you're family." Kazuya dismissed, staring at Kane.

Kurama's mouth twitched, "If you punish Kane for this I'm not going to be happy."

"No, no, not punish, I just, want to understand. I never thought Kane would be the type to lie to me."

"I'm a demon." Kurama said it outright.

"I didn't really lie. His soul's a demon's, but his body is human. He even gets body odor and all of that." Kane lifted Kurama's arm and wafted his armpit at them.

Kurama jerked and put his arm back down, "I do not get bad body odor, I eat right."

"You barely sweat." Kane corrected.

"That's also true," He sighed, "But, yes, I am a demon. I'm a spirit fox."

"I see, so Kane's first loyalty was to her kin, but she just, omitted some of the truth."

"It was not just to her kin, it was also to the legendary Youko Kurama," he smirked, happy with that thought.

"Actually it was because I didn't want to ruin the company accidentally." Kane remarked with a sigh. "Suddenly having a demon as one of the top executives in a human company could be taken poorly by the markets, especially one as talented at illicit activities as Youko Kurama."

Kurama grinned, "I am a demon, and this is my human body. I have a separate body from this one."

"Did you know about this Honey?" Kazuya asked Shiroi softly.

Shiori nodded, "Only for a week or so. I knew Kane wasn't telling us the whole truth, so I cornered her into answering everything. It was that day I went over to Shuichi's house last week."

"Oh, that's why you came home so dazed."

She nodded again.

"So you're a legendary illicit guy?"

"I'm a legendary thief."

"You, a thief."

"Very much so. I like shiny things."

Kane smirked.

"But I don't let my urges into my human life. When I was a child I had a hard time with it, but I learned how to deal with it."

"And now that you're older, it's easier because humans develop impulse control over age."

"So, Kokota, those flowers did come from your brother, they were not thrown away, I reduced them to seeds so I could store them and bring them out whenever I wanted, potentially as weapons. He provided me with a good variety for that purpose, which is why it didn't look like a traditional group of flowers."

"Really, the reason I gave them to her was to apologize. I kind of um, threatened her."

"We were both having off days."

"But now we're dating."

"O-ooh, so how old are you?"

"Three thousand." Kurama winced.

"Three, three thousand?"

Kurama nodded sheepishly.

"Why are you in customer service? You should be in science!"

"Uhm, I was a scientist at one point, or I got into science."

"He's not up on the latest technology. He's been stealing for the last oh, several millennia."

"I think she's gloating, bro."

"Would you like to see me?" He perked up a little.

"Yeah!" Kokota nodded quickly.

Shiori smiled and nodded her consent.

Kurama got up and moved away from them. He took a deep breath and raised his energy steadily for a while, feeling the excitement boil in his stomach when he finally flared it and felt his natural skin take over. He sighed heavily in delight and tossed a bit of his hair, feeling it straighten out as he did so.

The first scent that struck him was Kane. She, apparently, was very excited to see him in his fox form, and she didn't bother shifting or moving to hide it, fully aware of what he was smelling. He flushed and shook his head, clearing his throat, his ears flicking about as he focused on his human family.

"Kane, stand beside him, let's see how you two pair up for real." Kazuya recommended.

"Oh," Kurama folded his hands in front of his lap, "I am male, I'm taller."

Kane stood anyway, and came up to about his shoulder. Kazuya whistled, "You've got to be like seven feet."

"I am." He nodded and glanced at Kane, flushed a bright red.

Kane smiled and took his hand, lacing their fingers together.

"You're very handsome Shuichi."

Kurama smiled, "Thank you, Mother, but my name is Kurama."

"You'll always be my Shuichi. I don't care what your first mother called you," She smiled.

His tail swished in happiness and he made his way over to her, kneeling in front of her. He pulled her into his arms tightly and rested his head against her shoulder, his ear flicking some of her hair about as he settled down in her arms.

Shiori hugged him back.

Kurama snuggled up to her for a moment before he pulled back to look at Hatanaka, his ears trying to decide if they wanted to flatten out of fear or perk up.

Kazuya smiled and nodded, "You look good. I always wondered why you ducked a little when you went through doors. Now it makes sense. You don't always do it, just when you're distracted."

Kurama nodded, "Yes, it's always been a habit of mine I could never lose."

"Yes, well if I looked like a lovely silver man, I would duck all the time too."

He laughed and shook his head, glancing over at Kokota, his ears flicking.

"If you're three thousand years old, then aren't you, like, older than the modern era?"

"Yes?"

"So what was it like in the BC?"

"I wasn't around a lot in Human World during the BC era. Only a few times. When I was here, it was very different. You could see the land stretch out for miles," he smiled.

"Did humans ever know about demons before?"

"Yes. We were always in a state of warring. That's where all the hell scrolls came from."

"So, if you're a fox, and we had Kitsune, and they could change image at will, can you become a girl?"

Kurama laughed nervously, "Well, uh, no. Kitsune tend to be more illusionists, I'm a spirit fox. We tend to be more plant oriented."

"Oh. So why are you so girly?"

"I am not girly." His ears flattened.

"You've got long hair, you're soft-spoken, you aren't really scary, you're prettier than you are handsome, and you're all like, leen and shit."

"Being girly is a cultural identification. It's not a natural state of being. Your identifiers of girly just don't match up with ours."

"I'll have you know that I've… been called, the best," he flushed, "Uh, no, that's not family oriented, I shouldn't say that. I don't have boobs, I have a penis and balls." He offered.

"Wait, so what about him is manly to you?" Kazuya asked Kane.

"How he wears his hair, the way he moves, sits, and so forth." She wasn't filling in all the truth about it, their gender roles were well defined, but not really by those features. Then again, it would be hard to explain the social structures in place to explain masculine and feminine roles to humans.

Kurama sighed, "Youko men tend to be taller too. Many demons don't look quite like the genders here. I had a partner," he took a deep breath, "Who also had very long hair, and I'm sure you would think he was feminine too. In Demon World, where we come from, appearance doesn't really matter. I'm sure you notice how Hiei is very childlike in his looks, but he's a well respected person. There was a leader who everyone thought was male, but she finally came forth and showed everyone her true colors."

"So is it just like, posture, that stands as a marker of male or female?

"Somewhat, or their personality." Kurama shrugged, "Human World and Demon World are very different." He got up after a moment and went over to Kane, his tail swishing in delight of being near her, "I have something I want you to do."

"Oh?"

He smiled and offered her his hands, "As part of our courting."

"I understand."

"I want you to go shopping with my Mother."

"Oh! That will be fun!" Shiori grinned and clapped, "What do you say Kane? Would you like to go shopping with me?"

"Of course Shiori, but I have a feeling it won't go as well as you expect."

"Nonsense."

Kurama leaned down and pecked Kane on the lips, purring in delight, "Mm, what would you like vixen?"

Kane smiled, "I think you already gave me that."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"What did I give you?" He knelt down in front of her rather than standing over her and rested his head against her leg, flushed a bright red from the smell she was emitting.

Kane ran her fingers gently through his hair, a hand on his shoulder, "You gave me flowers."

His ears perked up and he smiled, nodding, "Alright, I'll leave you two to shopping then, vixen." He leaned up and kissed her.

"Tonight?"

"It's not that late."

"We'll go get you something less," Shiori waved her hand over Kane's style, standing, "I don't know how to describe that, foreign?"

Kurama stood and offered Kane a hand to get her up.

Kane stood with his help and kissed him, "Go home, I'll be back later I guess."

Kurama took a moment to pull her closer and kiss her, hoping for a rise out of Kokota for the PDA, grinning.

"Eww, come on, if people Ma and Dad's age shouldn't kiss, you two really shouldn't."

Kurama chuckled and kissed Kane a little louder before pulling back, "Get to it vixen."

"You too Mr." Kane pecked his cheek then patted his butt, "Go home."

"Yeah, I will. I might stick around for a few minutes."

"Shall we go?" Shiori asked picking up a purse.

Kurama made his way to Shiori and hugged her, "Have fun Mother." He watched them go and the three boys talked about their unanswered questions before Kurama reverted back to Shuichi's form and went home.

Vena frowned from her spot in one of Yukina's guest beds. It had been about a few weeks, and Hiei had yet to bunk with her, and it'd rained several times within the last couple of days. She got herself out of bed and made her way out of the little temple to find Hiei. It didn't take long, seeking out his energy, but when she came upon him her heart sank, "Hiei?"

He was pale and sweaty despite just sitting in the nook of a tree. His cloak was still wet from last night's rainstorm. It had lasted for hours, and the morning dew hadn't yet lifted. Hiei shivered every few minutes as his body fought to stay warmer.

"Hiei, Hiei come down." Vena called, patting the tree, "Please Hiei, you don't look good."

Hiei shook his head, a bit of water fluffing out of it.

"Please, come on Hiei. I want to see you."

Hiei sighed and pushed himself up, out of his nook, hopping down to the ground. He stumbled when he landed and slipped to his knees catching himself with his hands.

Vena's face dropped and she dropped to her knees in the mud, "Hiei, you're not okay."

Hiei was breathing heavily and she could feel the heat radiating off of him.

"Come on, we're getting you better." Vena scooped him up and started for the temple.

Hiei shut his eyes and leaned against her sighing and relaxing in her arms.

Vena made her way into the temple, "Hey, Kazuma, I've got a sick demon here."

"What?" Kuwabara looked up, "Oh! Hiei? What's going on? I didn't feel anything nearby but him."

"He's sick."

"How?"

"He's shivering and wet, Kazuma, he hasn't been coming in at night. He's a fire demon and he's been out in the cold." Vena explained, "And the rain."

"Oh, well go take him somewhere to rest and I'll get his extra clothes to get him changed."

Vena hurried to her room and set Hiei down on her warm bed, pulling his cloak off and his shirt. She tugged at his boots, "Is this better, in a warm bed?"

Hiei tried to sit up, but his head spun and he lay back down. "I need to protect the temple."

"The temple is fine Hiei. You're sick." Vena explained as she started undoing his belts.

"No, you don't understand," Hiei tried to grab her hands, but stopped bothering after missing a few times. "I have to keep her safe."

"She's perfectly safe, but you're not."

"People might want to get at her while I'm sick. I can't, protect her right, I need you to- to protect her Vena. You need to keep Yukina safe."

"I will Hiei, I will, but I'm also keeping you safe."

"Good." Hiei relaxed into the bed and started napping letting her have her way with his clothes. Vena stripped him easily and covered his waist with the blankets, stepping out into the hall, "He's going to need a good dinner."

Kuwabara passed over the clothes when he reached her and sighed, "Well, we'll just have to say you made it then."

"We will." She took the clothes and made her way back in to dress Hiei.

Kuwabara followed her in, "He looks like he's got a cold or something. Staying out in the rain probably weakened his immune system."

"Probably." She tucked pants onto Hiei beneath the sheets and started dressing him quickly, "A warm shower? Maybe?"

"I think if you just let him rest for now, keep him dry, he might start to bounce back in a day or so. He needs strength to fight it, so if you fed him some energy it might help."

"Alright. Thank you Kazuma," Vena smiled at him, and crawled into bed beside Hiei wrapping her arms around him and she kissed his cheek. That was when Kuwabara left. Vena sighed heavily. She didn't expect the first time snuggling up with Hiei while he was asleep would be because he was sick. She expected snuggling up to him after a long battle or a long night. Still, she'd take the opportunity to snuggle with him nonetheless. She rested her head against his chest and rubbed her hand along his stomach, feeding him energy.

Hiei shifted and groaned as she fed him energy, moving closer. She continued to feed him until Kuwabara appeared in the doorway with a bowl of soup and she got up to retrieve it, thanking him, and making her way back to the bed, "Hiei. Hiei, I made you some soup."

Hiei blinked and woke up enough to stare at her, incredulous. "You made it?"

"Yes, I made it."

"You cook?" Hiei sat up on his own accord proving he was doing somewhat better, but she could still see his face was flushed and he was sweaty.

"I can." She handed him the soup, sitting on the edge of the bed, "I can feed you if you feel unsteady."

"When did you make it?" Hiei yawned and scooted himself up so he could lean against the wall.

"Mm, quickly." She didn't bother answering his question, just getting closer to him so she could offer him a spoonful of soup.

Hiei put a hand on hers to help guide it, but didn't try to take the spoon or the bowl as she settled in beside him. He ate the first two bites before shifting over so he was laying over her giving her arms more room. She sighed and smiled, "Are you feeling better?" She asked him as she gave him another spoonful of soup.

"Some," he said after swallowing before she fed him.

"Do you think a nice hot shower would do you good?"

"No."

"No, okay." She nodded and took a spoonful of soup herself before giving him another, "Anything special you want?"

"No."

They finished the soup and she continued to feed him energy. She leaned over and kissed his cheek gently, happy he was feeling better.

Hiei yawned and curled up against her chest, comfortable practically laying in her lap.

Vena stroked his hair and sighed, leaning back, closing her eyes, "It's good to be near you Hiei."

Hiei groaned and sighed reaching for her shirt. He caught it in his fingers and wrapped his hand around it.

She watched him, unsure what he wanted. She rubbed his shoulder and shifted until she was comfortable.

"Miss you," Hiei whispered after a while.

Vena smiled, "I've missed you Hiei."

"Don't stay here, don't endanger my sister."

"Hm?" She frowned, "Who?"

He didn't elaborate or repeat himself.

"Hiei, who's your sister? Where is she?"

His face furrowed, "She's here, Yukina."

"Yukina is your sister?"

"Shh, don't tell her." Hiei reached up and put a finger over her lips.

"She's fine Hiei."

"No, she's in danger, she's always in danger." Hiei leaned up as best he could to whisper in her ear, "She's a Koorime."

"Whoa whoa whoa," Vena frowned, "I knew that, but you're telling me you're a fire demon and a Koorime? How the hell does that even work?"

"I don't know. I wasn't there."

"Of course you weren't," she sighed, "So, just go to sleep Hiei."

"No, I have to protect my sister."

"You can't protect her if you're weak Hiei."

"No, I have to."

"I will tie you to this bed."

"You have to protect her." Hiei urged.

"I am. Nothing is near the house."

He relaxed and nodded, "Good."

"So go to sleep." Vena leaned down and kissed his cheek, settling in, "I'll keep watch."

He followed her suggestion.


	8. Chapter 8 Drunken Gambles

It was late, maybe seven o'clock, by the time Kane finally crawled into the house. It kept seeming like Kane would get later and later the longer she worked on her project. Eventually, Kurama feared, she'd just stay in the lab and sleep there rather than coming home at all.

Kurama was sitting on the couch with a beer in hand, but he'd only just started sipping the beverage. He glanced up at Kane and smiled, "Welcome home."

Kane smiled, "Thank you. What's the occasion?"

"I want to get drunk." He picked up another beer and opened it up, offering it to her.

"Huh?"

"I, want to get drunk with you." Kurama grinned.

"Why?"

"A better question is why not?"

"Well, what if we get attacked?"

"Do you know how many times I've gotten drunk by myself?" Kurama chuckled, "Many times, we're fine."

She sighed, "Fine, but I'm not buying you more alcohol." She took the bottle he had offered and sat beside him.

"I buy my own alcohol thank you very much," Kurama chuckled.

"Good thing too," Kane sipped on her beer and lay against his side.

"So how are you?"

"I'm okay."

"Just okay?" He wrapped an arm over her shoulder and kissed her cheek.

"Yeah, a bit caught up in work, that's all."

Kurama sighed and nuzzled into her neck, "How was shopping with Mother? You never did expand on it that much."

"Not much to expand on, it was alright. I enjoyed her company."

Kurama smiled, "That's good, I'm glad to hear that."

Kane nodded and set her bottle on her leg sighing heavily and kicked up her feet onto the couch.

"Is that all?"

"Pretty much."

Kurama shifted to kiss her straight on the lips for a moment before sipping his beer.

Kane smiled and kissed him back.

"So let's have a good time and get drunk."

"Alright, we can do that."

Kurama turned on a movie for them to have as background noise and settled back beside her to kiss her and sip his beer.

"What're you looking for Kurama?" Kane asked softly.

"What am I looking for? How was your shopping trip, really."

She sighed and finished a large gulp of her beer. "It was pretty horrendous actually. Like, not Shiori, I loved spending time with her, but the people just, just sucked."

"Just sucked?" Kurama sighed.

"Yeah. we kept getting insulted by people and glared at when we went to buy things. I felt really embarrassed about it honestly. She was trying so hard to be nice to them, but they just, they wouldn't get over the fact that I was a demon. They kept saying I was some freak. They said it was a costume."

Kurama sighed, "I'm sorry Kane. I wish it had been better."

"Me too. It's difficult because humans are just so judgemental about appearances."

"Hey, at least it's over, right?" Kurama tapped their beer bottles together briefly and took a sip.

"Yeah, at least it's over," Kane sighed and finished off her beer.

Kurama popped open a cooler next to the couch and offered her another beer with a grin.

She took it and popped the cap. Kurama kissed her on the cheek and finished off his own, grabbing another to down.

"What're we even doing Kurama, I mean, out of all the things we could do, out of all the inventions we could make, why're we even here?"

"Because I want to get drunk?"

"Not that," she waved him off, "I mean like, if we were still in Demon World we'd be fighting and killing and maiming, and here, in Human World, we're just laying around drinking beer, getting drunk, inventing, so why're we here? What saved us from being killed out of all the others that have been killed?"

"I don't know, maybe it's fate." He shrugged, "I'm just happy we're here Kane."

"I am too."

He smiled and settled down further next to her side.

"How drunk are we getting?"

"Drunk."

"Oh, well then you'd better catch up to me," she clicked their bottles together.

Kurama chuckled and shook his head, "Don't worry, I'll be passing you up in no time."

It was true too, before eleven, the two of them had finished four bottles a piece, and Kurama was mostly done with his fifth one while Kane was lagging behind. "Any reason you wanna get drunk Foxy?"

"Mm, why not? I just want to get drunk," Kurama took a long sip, "Any reason you don't want to get drunk?"

"Well, work, sanity, hangovers," she yawned.

"Eh, who needs sanity?" He waved her off, hiking a leg up onto the couch, "Do you get drunk often?" He snickered.

"No. It's dangerous to get drunk."

"I'd imagine so. When did you leave your tribe?"

"A while ago," Kane sighed and stared up at the ceiling, "What about you?"

"I was an early leaver. What did you imagine you'd do when you got out?" He frowned and grabbed for another bottle out of the cooler, finishing his off.

Kane finished hers, catching up with him in a long gulp, and held out her hand for the next one, "I jus' thought I'd keep livin'," she murmuered.

Kurama handed her a bottle and uncapped his, "Well you did. Did you ever find someone you really loved before you came here?"

"You mean, Human World?"

"Yeah."

"Just the one guy who weren't, wasn't, so willing to have me."

"Mm. Have you ever considered having a family?"

"I suppose when I was little I did, but not after leaving. You?"

"Sometimes. What'd the guy, or uh, person you loved, how was he unwilling?

"I just, I don't know, I mean, I gave him the flower, and he refused me."

"Mm. Did you really love him that much?"

She sighed heavily and snuggled up to his side. "Yeah. He was a beautiful man, heart and soul. I just, I think I was too tainted for him or something, I don't know. He didn't want me. You ever loved someone like that? Someone you couldn't have?"

Kurama sighed, "A couple of people. But the real reason is mostly because they're dead." He shrugged, "Are you happy that he refused now?"

"I don't like thinking about Ashurawt."

"No? I understand that. Mm," he nuzzled into her hair, "Do you want to stay in Human World?"

"I don't know, it's very peaceful here, but that puts me on edge sometimes because I'm waiting for the assassins to come."

"Yeah," he sighed, "Are you drunk yet?"

"Shiori is precious. I knew she would be after talking to Kazuya so much, but she really is."

"What?"

"Huh?"

"I asked if you were drunk yet."

"Uh," she stared at him, leaning away to see his face. After several minutes she just smiled and lost her focus, her eyes scouring his face.

Kurama took a long sip, "Because I'm tired and you're warm and soft."

"What was it like being Youko Kurama? Being that famous?"

"Eh, it was being Youko Kurama. I had a lot of stalkers."

"Oh."

"Yeah," He stretched an arm over her, "Mm, Kane, why do you stay here?"

"I like watching you shower," she rested her head against his shoulder grinning mischievously up at him. "Your body is so, sleek, and strong," she rubbed her hand up his chest, then across his collarbone from shoulder to shoulder.

"Wait, you watch me shower?"

"Only sometimes," she sheepishly admitted, flushing.

"Dear god," he whined, "Showers are a private thing," he teased her.

"Not when you've laced the bathroom with creeper vines. They were there when I got here dude, not my problem, I just take advantage of them."

"Hey, what all have you seen?"

"Well you were jerking off like, last week sometime. I could hear that too."

Kurama rolled his eyes, "Did you watch all of that?"

"Why wouldn't I? You caught my attention." She squirmed closer to him.

Kurama sighed, "I'll have to be more careful. Hey, can I watch you shower?"

"Or more open." Kane commented. "You don't?" She frowned at him.

"No."

"Oh, that's disappointing."

"I did once." He admitted, quietly, "I wanted to make sure you weren't actually making some kind of deadly weapon."

Kane laughed, "And you didn't come back for more? Now I'm really disappointed in myself."

"Not like that," he sighed, "I just, had things to do, like make dinner. I'd rather sit and watch, but I have things to do."

Kane yawned, "Well I always assumed you did both. I've had a lot of conversations with you that you never heard I guess," she flushed.

"Well I might now," he teased.

"Mmm, I'm shocked you didn't feel my energy in the creepers."

"Eh, I wasn't paying attention. You know, speaking of showers…"

"What about showers?"

"I should take a shower, wash my hair."

"But you smell like fox." She buried her nose against his neck.

"Yeah, I have an even better idea," he touched her hair, leaning over to take a deep breath of it.

She yawned and grazed her teeth over his neck poking her arms in around his chest until she was hugging him. "Kurama, if you could have one superpower, what would it be?"

"Superpower, mm. I guess, the power to make people happy? Or make humans live longer."

"I think making humans live longer would be a tragedy. They're human because they live the way they do."

"Not my Mother, I want her to live forever."

"But do you really think she could love so completely if she weren't human?"

"No," he sighed, "Kane, what would your superpower be?"

"Understanding."

"That's a good superpower." He smiled, "Are you drunk yet?"

"Uh huh." She had finished half her fifth bottle.

"Good, want to go snuggle up in my bed?"

"But I'd have to move."

Kurama sighed and got up, chugging his beer down.

Kane whined morosely when he stood, taking her with him because she refused to let go of his torso.

"I was going to carry you," he offered, tapping her arms.

Kane nuzzled into his neck slouching over to stay tucked up close.

"Or not." Kurama squirmed and scooped her up, heading for his bedroom, "Kane, do you love me?"

Kane sighed in delight and nibbled at his ear. "Probably."

"I'm okay with that." He set her down on his bed when he managed to push open the door.

Kane let him go and burrow under the covers energetically, stealing one of his pillows and retreating beneath the blankets on his side of the bed with just a fluff of gold sticking out with her nose.

Kurama picked up a few water bottles from near the door and set them on the nightstand, twisting them open. He got into his night clothes and scooted in beside her.

She crawled onto his waist when he came into the bed and sat on him peering down, "What's your favorite color?"

"Green."

"Why?"

"Because of plant life. Kane, you've asked me this before." He smiled.

"But there aren't none green foxes." Kane huffed.

"Sssh, it's okay."

"No it's not. What's your favorite color?" She lay on his chest staring at him intently.

"Gold."

She grinned and kissed his lips, her face glowing with delight.

He wrapped an arm around her and kissed her back, "What's your favorite color?"

"Well it used to be red," she ran her fingers through his hair, "but I'm pretty partial to silver."

He chuckled, "Mm, red is pretty nice. I enjoy my red hair. But I love your gold hair, I always thought golds were very pretty."

"Mm, perspective. I always thought golds were pompous asses."

He laughed, "Yeah? Everyone calls silvers greys."

"I heard a bunch of old ones called snows though."

"Yeah?" He kissed her again, "Mmm, do you," he frowned after a moment, "Dammit, I was going to ask you something."

"Was it about reproductive organs?" She rubbed her hips against his stomach.

Kurama's breath hitched a little, "Maybe."

"Was it about," she settled more firmly into place, "oh, you weren't going to ask me about Ashurawt were you?"

"No. I wasn't." He shook his head.

"Well if you were now would be your only chance because I don't talk about him when I'm sober in any truth of the matter."

"Fine. What'd he look like?"

"He was a young man, brown hair, brown eyes, on the thinner side. I wasn't really attracted to that. I like men who can wrap me up in their arms and make me feel cozy."

"What kind of demon was he?"

"Oh, well, he was a Komodo, came up from Tourin for a while."

"Really? Bleh," he shook his head, leaning up to kiss her, "I don't like Komodos."

"He was very sweet, like a bunny."

"Bleh," he chuckled, "Was he a sloppy kisser?"

"No, he was dainty, and clean."

"Huh. Was he a good fuck?"

"I don't know. You see, he wasn't interested in me because he would have been interested in you."

"Oh, so was he gay?"

"Yup."

"Heh," he shook his head, "Mm, I like you. I won't leave you for Hiei, don't worry."

"Yeah, well, he liked me too, but not in that way, and he didn't realize I was thinking that until, well, much too late. He was a bit obtuse when it came to identifying people who liked him."

"Yeah? That's a bummer," he rubbed her side.

"Especially since I hooked him up with his boyfriend," she sighed heavily, "He turned me down and I asked why. he told me he was gay. I asked why he never showed interested in Aragon if he was gay, and he said it was because Aragon never showed an interest in him, he was attracted to the man though. I then, stupidly, started pointing out all the things Aragon would do to show his interest."

"You know, you should have just asked him in the first place."

"If he was gay? I thought he wasn't because he ignored Aragon's advances so perfectly it was like he never noticed them. Meanwhile, he would actually flirt with me. Aragon had never been direct because he figured he was straight."

Kurama sighed, "Goodness."

Kane sighed again and deflated against him. Her tail wrapped up along their sides and she burrowed her head against his chest. "It hurt, seeing them together, so I left. After all they'd done for me, and I… I couldn't bear with it, and be happy for them." she squished his chest in her arms.

"It's fine, now you're here." He kissed her head.

"I want you to know I'm not, not tainted. I'm not bad." She sat up on his chest with her hands on his shoulders staring down at him. "I'm not… not damaged goods."

"Well obviously."

"It doesn't matter what the people at home think, I'm just a person like everyone else."

"I know you are."

She lay back down stretching out along his body, and sighed, propped up enough to see his face.

Kurama glanced down at her and sighed, touching her hair, running his fingers through it.

She relaxed and shut her eyes, happy to have the attention. She leaned against his hand encouragingly. Kurama scratched at her scalp gently and continued to comb her hair out with his fingers, letting his head fall back onto the pillow.

"Were you ever courting someone before?" Kane asked quietly, her voice muffled by sleep.

"I wanted to, but he died before that happened." Kurama sighed at the painful memory and shifted.

"Hiei's not your type?"

"He's not gay."

Kane peeled her eyes open to study him, confused. "You mean he turned you down like Ashurawt turned me down?"

"You can say that. I never courted him, but I asked him if he'd consider a relationship with me and he just told me I was a stupid Fox, and he didn't want to destroy our friendship, and he wasn't gay."

"He doesn't seem to be the vocal type, that's impressive."

"He is if you know him."

"Oh. So you just misinterpret him sometimes."

"He is a quiet man, but if you can get him comfortable and relaxed, he can become very vocal." Kurama smiled, remembering all the times he'd managed to get a story out of Hiei, just something out of the little demon. He'd gotten a lot of rants out of him, and only a few stories, but it was good enough.

"Will you go shopping with me? I want you to see what I go through."

"Yes, I will go shopping with you."

"Thank you." She settled in for a good night's sleep.

He kissed her head and wrapped an arm around her, settling in just as easily.


	9. Chapter 9 Through Sickness and in Health

Hiei groaned and coughed when he woke up rolling onto his side. His stomach was killing him. It felt like he'd eaten tacks, and it was unpleasant, to say the least. When he rolled over, he collided with something cool to the touch, but living. He jerked back at the cold skin and rolled the other way only to bump into the wall. A cold arm wrapped around him and tugged itself closer.

"Good morning."

Hiei shivered and pulled the blankets closer as he felt his temperature dip and flux.

"You want some breakfast?" Vena asked softly, rubbing a hand along the blanket to make friction to heat it up.

He nodded, his teeth chattering. He clamped his mouth shut tight to stop the noise. Anything to get her away from him so his body could warm up the blankets as it tried to do.

"Alright. I'll be back in a little bit." She kissed his cheek and hopped out of bed.

Hiei sighed and wrapped his arms around a pillow holding that against his stomach trying to get rid of the feeling of pin pricks jabbing into it. The pressure didn't help, just started an ache in his ribs and lungs. After rolling about, and ending up on the floor, he realized that the chilled ground and stable surface actually helped. Laying on his back was best, and if the pain started coming back, he'd just move a little bit left, and right, working his arms and abs, but for the most part, he was able to fall back to sleep again, until Vena came back.

"Hiei!" She yelped, hurrying over. She set down a plate and touched his shoulder, "Are you okay?"

"No, I'm sick." Hiei opened an eye to give her his best incredulous stare. He'd practiced it for years on Kuwabara.

"I know that. Did you get hurt falling off the bed?"

"I didn't fall I got out of the bed."

"Oh. Alright. I have some oatmeal for you." She scooted it closer to him.

"No, my stomach hurts. I just didn't want the cold." he put a hand on her leg to stop her from coming any closer.

She sighed and took a spoonful of the oatmeal for herself.

Hiei took a slow, long breath, and gently released it into the room. In a couple minutes, he was nearly asleep again, his hand resting on Vena's knee.

Vena shifted his hand off her knee and sighed, "Would a shower do you good?"

Hiei blinked awake and stared at her. "Do I really reek that bad? That's the second time you've suggested I shower."

"Well." She chuckled, "Maybe just a little. I think the hot water would do you good."

"Maybe the sun would do me good, or fresh air somewhere warm, but water?" he wondered at her reasoning. Perhaps she was just going with the hot part of that statement.

"Or maybe something like a sauna," she mused.

"I might look human, but I'm not."

"So?"

"I don't need to immerse myself in liquids to feel better."

"No, but it's warm and steamy. I wish I was warmer so I could help you."

"Hn, the blankets weren't helping." he patted her knee.

"Well, I really don't have any ideas here Hiei. Hot water bottle?"

"Stop with the water. Just, stop. If I think of something I can ask you for, I will, but I don't need anything right- right now." he frowned. His stomach felt queasy. He licked at his tacky mouth and frowned, this was not good.

Vena eyed him, "Are you… okay?"

One second he was there, the next he was in the bathroom hunched over the toilet, groaning loudly. Vena was a minute behind him, peering in skeptically.

"Do you want anything?" She came in slowly.

Hiei growled at her and glared, but didn't respond verbally.

Vena sighed and leaned against the wall, watching him, not coming closer, "Sorry." She grabbed a washcloth from the cupboard and wet it with warm water, stepping closer to offer it to him. He wiped his mouth off with it.

She stood silent for a few minutes before she spoke up, "Hiei, you do reek."

Hiei huffed, "Well you don't have to lay next to me."

"No, but guess what?" She closed the bathroom door and headed for the shower, "We have a shower right here."

He glared at her, but didn't feel like he had the energy to argue the point. Instead, he flipped off the toilet to lay against the wall. He felt spent.

Vena turned the shower on and tested it for a moment before whining softly, shaking her red hand a little. She examined it for a moment before she looked at Hiei and approached him, kneeling down in front of him to pull on the hem of his shirt.

Hiei glared at her, he wasn't going to help her get his shirt off, or help get in the shower. He wanted nothing to do with the wet liquid on his skin, but, he didn't push her away. He just didn't have the energy. Vena wrestled with his arms before she pulled it up over his head and tugged at his pants.

"We can do this the easy way or the hard way Hiei." She offered, tugging them off with a quick sweep.

He was not going to let her get this done easily. She had to be made aware how much he did not want to do this and the only way that was happening, was through a fight. With that in mind, he didn't help her when she hauled him to his feet, and struggled to stop from getting put in the wet tub, but, she managed just fine and he had only done damage to himself.

"There, so are you going to clean yourself or do I have to get in there and do it myself?"

Hiei wanted to glare at the water, glare at it, and boil it into vapor, but he knew that it would just piss her off, so he didn't bother, plus, it was a lot of energy. Still, the prospect of her hands massaging his body and scalp, even if it was because of soap, was alluring, so he didn't bother moving, just sat where he'd slipped on the bottom of the tub and glared at her.

Vena sighed and started undressing, "I'm going to have to turn the water down otherwise it'll burn me." She turned it down a few notches before she stepped in, jerking when the hot water hit her bare back, but she knelt in front of him and grabbed a nearby washcloth, "So the hard way, eh?" She started lathering up the washcloth and leaned forward, taking his arm to start scrubbing him.

Hiei sighed and relaxed into her washcloth-covered hand enjoying the itching and massaging it provided as the hot water sloshed down them. Vena eventually worked her way up to his hair where she started massaging his scalp, "Part of me thinks you're being this way just so I'll wash you Hiei."

"Part of me is being this way so you'll wash me," he sighed in delight while her fingers worked the shampoo into his hair.

"I figured," she sighed, "You going to wash me back?"

He sighed and peeled his eyes open to gaze at her, "No. It would ruin the view."

She rolled her eyes and smacked his arm, "Whatever."

"If I'm that close I might get too distracted to memorize what you look like bathing," he teased. Despite feeling the water's constant pounding, he did feel better beneath it, letting it wash away the grime he'd collected since the last time he bathed. She had been right.

She offered him the washcloth, "Wash all your bits I shouldn't touch, you sweat down there too," she offered, leaning him back a little to wash the shampoo out.

He felt dizzy when she pushed him back into the spray, and shut his eyes tight to try to avoid the feeling, but it just made it worse. Still, once he'd shifted enough to avoid leaning so far, he felt better and did as she requested before pulling himself up with the bar at the side of the tub, and stepping under the spray to clean off.

Vena stood with him and grabbed his washcloth, rinsing it off before she started washing herself off, "Feel any better?"

He rinsed off slowly, watching her run the washcloth down her body. He hadn't been lying when he said he would ruin the view doing it himself, but he hadn't expect it to be very true.

"Hey, Mr. I-can't-wash-myself, are you feeling better?" Vena asked.

"Somewhat," he admitted. He had to give her something or she'd come closer, and then he'd have to really crane his neck to stare at her and he didn't want to do that.

She sighed, "I don't want you to smell, so I'm going to wash you again at some point. Alright?" Vena reached past him for the soap to lather the washcloth up again, "Do you want breakfast?"

"No." He stepped out of the way leaning against the wall of the shower to support his weary legs.

"Are you going to tell Mukuro about Yukina's pregnancy?"

"Shit, you're right, I should." Hiei frowned, "I hadn't thought of that, I just, need to keep Yukina safe. Demons might attempt to kidnap her because of what her baby will be. If they could have a koormie baby from birth, they might be able to teach it to make them rich at will and that would not be good."

"It wouldn't be good. Do you cry tear gems?"

Hiei's eyes shot up to hers. What was she doing asking that? Why would he cry tear gems? What had he said? He didn't remember much from when she'd come and gotten him. He'd had a pretty bad flu at that point, but he knew they'd talked. What had he said?

"You're part Koorime. Do you cry tear gems?"

He had to say something to dissuade that line of thought, he had to come up with something, quick, "What makes you think that?"

"You told me."

"Feh, yeah right. I couldn't have told you that."

"You did. You told me Yukina was your sister." Vena told him quietly.

"No. I never would have told you that," he had to play this off, he had to push it away, deny, deny, deny.

"Is it true?"

"Tch, no. It's not true." He could feel the heat in his face rising.

"No? You must've been pretty out of it then." She leaned over to wash her feet, "Because you seemed pretty certain."

Did she actually buy that? Did she believe him? He held his breath watching her, waiting to see that she continued to just, wash herself off, unconcerned that he'd been hallucinating Yukina being his sister.

"Well Hiei?"

"Well what?" Hiei demanded angrily.

"Is it really true or are you just, not willing to tell me?" She paused, looking up at him, balancing mostly on one foot.

Shit, she didn't believe him. What could he say? He couldn't just, lie to her again, He had to say something, but what? Did he really want to lie to her like that? It seemed so difficult to decide. If he did lie to her, then he could never come back from that. He could never be completely trustworthy to her again, but, hadn't he lied to her already? Hadn't he told her things about himself that weren't entirely true? His unfamiliarity with the desire to be truthful halted him, and he just stared at her.

Vena watched him back for a few moments before she continued washing herself, "So, have you burned my image into your brain?"

No, but the water was irritating him. It was just so wet. He sighed and pulled her into his arms resting his head against hers. If he was going to lose her because of some stupid thing like this, he wanted to hold her one last time.

"You know, this isn't helping me wash," she tutted her tongue at him, but wrapped her arms around him, giving him a squeeze.

He took a deep breath of her wetted scent and tried to memorize the feeling of holding her warm stable body in his arms, but it was harder to memorize feelings.

"You don't have to tell me Hiei. It's okay. I just want you to someday."

He didn't want to tell anyone, ever. If the others figured it out that was their own problem, not his. As long as they didn't bother him about it, he couldn't complain too loudly.

She kissed his cheek, "Hey, I'd kiss you but I don't want to get sick. Want to get dry and snuggle?"

He nodded and hurriedly retreated from the shower. Vena followed after she rinsed and turned off the shower. She wrapped him up in a towel, drying his hair with another.

Hiei shivered as the steamy air encompassed them, and wrapped himself up in the towel trying to get warm. This was why he didn't like showers. Once you turned off the water and moved, it chilled like ice, and while sick, that was dangerous because water conducted heat so well. Vena stepped over to the sink and fussed with something for a moment before she approached him with a contraption. He eyed it, but once she turned it on and took his hand, letting the hot air dry his skin, he stepped closer. When she was done blow drying him and wrapped herself up in a towel, she dressed them both and lead him back to bed.

Hiei sighed in delight to lay back down again, content to just stay put for a while. He was tired, and he felt like every muscle in his body was throbbing from the work of standing in the bath.

Vena tucked him in and gave him a kiss on the cheek, "I won't lay next to you since I'm cool. I'll just sit on the end of the bed or something." She pet his hair and smiled, "Feel better Dragon."

He grunted in response. Eventually he'd get used to that nickname, but for now, it still made his heart jump.


	10. Chapter 10 Murder

Kurama sighed as he slowly trudged his way along the sidewalk to the mall. It was a busy weekend, and he was keeping Kane as close as possible. The looks he got were enough to already start to make his blood boil, but he kept quiet. After hearing about what Kane had gone through when she went shopping with Shiori, he wanted to mostly, or at least mostly, ignore the rest of humanity and just give Kane the best experience possible.

Was that feasible? Probably not, but he'd give it a shot anyways. Kane was worth that small inconvenience. Would he stand for someone insulting her? No, and he was already dreading the encounter. He knew it would happen eventually, but he didn't want to think about it. Instead, he smiled up at Kane when he could and held her hand tightly, slightly flushed from the soft adrenaline rushing through his veins as their display was noticed and the closer he got to the mall, the harder it became to walk as people stopped to stare and a few threw out insults. He ignored them and hurried Kane forward, glancing back to smile at her widely and lean up to briefly kiss her cheek.

She flushed and smiled, squeezing his hand and continued to follow after him closely as someone called out about cosplayers and emos behind them. "We can't just, rush in, buy something, and rush out. I need clothes for here."

"I know," he smiled, "But I don't intend on letting them hurt you."

"Do you think one of them could?"

"Emotionally Kane, mentally, not physically." He shrugged, "Maybe if I were Youko it'd be easier?"

"They would probably just give you all the same things as me, it might even make it easier on them because they wouldn't pause to consider that there's a human with me, but, I mean, if you want to know what I'm going through, really know it..."

"We'll do a while with me as Shuichi and then as Youko," he offered.

"Okay."

"So what clothes are we looking for?" He asked as they entered the large mall and a group brushed past them.

"A couple pair of pants and a few shirts."

"Ah, here I was hoping for lacey underwear and bras."

She laughed and smiled for him squeezing his hand briefly.

"No? You don't need any of those?"

"No," she snickered.

"No? You don't even want to try them on and look totally sexy for me?" He teased her, slowly leading her to the stores he knew had clothes she'd probably like.

"Lets just try to find a shirt in my size first."

He deflated playfully and shook his head, "Damn, alright. This store on the right here has nice clothes that I think you'd like. They're pretty good quality too, I've had good luck with them."

"Do they have long torsos to help with bust and height on shirts?"

"They have woman's, but a men's could maybe fit you. Your bust," he glanced up at her briefly.

"Well let's go see."

Kurama led her into the store at a casual pace and sighed heavily when they were inside, "Okay, so we have a few options."

Kurama led her to the middle of the store and pulled out a shirt that was longer, but realized it was a dress, not a shirt. He sighed and glanced at her, disappointment in himself swirling around in his stomach, "This would look nice, but I know you want shirts."

Kane nodded and started looking through the racks as well. Once she pulled out the first hanger to check out the actual shirt itself the greeter came over to them. "Ma'am, I'm sorry, but these aren't for you."

"What do you mean they're not for her? Do you carry shirts that would fit her better?" Kurama asked quietly.

"No."

"Well you'd best explain what you mean." Kurama set the dress back on the rack.

"I'm sorry sir, are you with this demon?"

"Does it matter if I am? She has every right to shop here too."

"Actually, our company policy is to only sell to humans."

"Well," Kurama smiled, "That's a lovely policy, but she's with me."

"Then I'm going to have to ask both of you to leave," the greeter took the shirt from Kane and put it back on the rack.

She sighed and stared at Kurama, shrugging.

"Did it actually fit you?" Kurama asked.

"No idea. I was going to check. I've never actually managed to get into a changing room to figure out sizes."

"Are you really in the business of making your company lose money? I buy clothes here all the time and I'd gladly go to somewhere that isn't some low class place that discriminates."

"Oh no sir, you misunderstand. We won't sell to demons because we do not want the potential return hazard of unexpected wear and tear. It has nothing to do with them being a demon, it has to do with the different type of use."

"So you're saying I could buy clothes for her and it'd be fine because I'm human and I'm purchasing them?"

"No, because you two are together."

"You just said it was selling to demons. I am human. I suggest you actually listen to what you're saying. Just because I have a demon at my side doesn't mean I am buying clothes for her. For all you know I am buying clothes for myself or a family member."

"I'm sorry sir. I suggest you come back without the demon."

Kurama ignored that and picked up the shirt she'd been going to look at, holding it up to her torso.

Kane flushed, unsure what to do exactly.

"Sir, you're both not welcome at our store. Please leave." The greeter persisted.

Kurama chuckled and stepped closer to Kane, pulling it down to see if it matched her waist. It was too short.

"I don't want to cause a scene Kurama. Next thing they're going to do is call security."

"Their policies are hypocritical."

"It's not like they have a policy to service demons, just not to service them."

"So you're telling me if she walked out of here, I could shop here?" Kurama was having a hard time wrapping his brain around the policy.

"We're not stupid sir. We know what you're trying to do. We cannot allow our products to be worn by a demon. It would ruin our reputation in the eyes of the public."

"You know she's worn my shirts before right?" Kurama asked skeptically.

"Sir, if you persist in remaining in the store, I'll call security. The demon's right."

"The demon, has a name. You will use it. Her name is Kane. Kane is a she. Learn your pronouns." Kurama put the shirt back on the rack and took Kane's hand, "I won't be shopping here again." The two of them left back into the mall.

It took every ounce of self control Kurama had not to march back into the store, but he knew better. He hid a sigh with a smile and led her down the length of the mall a ways, "This is another store I shop at."

"Maybe we should visit shops you don't shop at."

"That's, a good point." Kurama chuckled, "I was hoping they'd have something nice for you to wear."

Kane shrugged, "I'd be content being able to buy human clothes, but there are three things they do. The first you just saw, that's the most direct. The second is they won't let me into a changing room even if I look at things. Shiori explained how humans go into them to try on clothes before they buy them, but they say that all of them are full, or that I'm not allowed back there. Well, with eyeballing, I've picked out a few things before, but the last way they'll deny my service is when I go to the register they say their registers are broken."

Kurama grunted, "Then pick a store." He offered, "I don't shop for woman's clothes obviously, so if you see a place that you like just point it out and we'll go there."

Kane took his hand and led him to a different store which was less posh and more average. They stepped in and the greeter welcomed them tiredly, but ignored who they were. With the ability to finally look through racks, Kane started examining the selection, but most of the clothes were patterned like tropical shirts which were more of a men's style.

Kurama eventually picked out a shirt that was on the neutral side and offered it to Kane, "Here, hold this up to yourself and straighten it out against your body to see if it's long enough." He mentally smacked himself for the explanation and dropped his head, looking up at her through his bangs. Still, she did as he said.

"Here, kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty." a couple teenagers had blocked their escape route and were clicking their tongues and calling her snapping fingers.

"I'm not a cat!" Kane snapped angrily, her energy flaring.

"She's a fox. Go grab a book and actually learn something." Kurama placed an arm on Kane's hand, "All they want is your attention. They're bottom feeders-"

"Well they have it," Kane glared at the boys, her tail twitching in irritation.

"Kane. They want this. They want you to get upset. Ignore them and they'll get bored and go away."

"I'm not upset, I'm ready for blood. I'm trying to decide which one deserves to die first!" Kane snapped loudly catching the attention of the store clerks.

"Kane," Kurama scolded, "Don't say that here. You're going to get us kicked out of the entire damn mall."

"They deserve it," Kane growled.

"Kane, stop." Kurama snapped at her.

During this process of finally calming her down, the boys were taunting her more and edging closer here or there calling her a kitty still.

"You two had better leave," Kurama snapped, "Now, get away. I don't give a shit if you think she looks like a kitty, because both of you look like pieces of trash who have nothing better to do than taunting people."

"Oooo, her sexy protector!" One of them started. The others laughed and put on a girly voice mimicking his words but with a much more high pitched, weak tone.

Kurama rolled his eyes and went back to looking at Kane.

"Is there something the matter?" The store clerk asked coming over to them like he was a sleepy dog.

"They won't leave us alone," Kurama offered.

The clerk laughed, "They're just teasing. Think of them like uh, well I don't know what sort of trolls you have in your world, but they're harmless."

"They're going to get their asses kicked by her sexy protecter if they don't learn some manners."

"Sir, please watch your language. I'm supposed to report swearing to the proper authorities for public indecency."

Kurama ignored the clerk in favor of looking at Kane, smiling, "Do you like this shirt?"

She sighed, "It's still too short. It would only just barely get down to my waist. They just don't expect people my height to be my width."

"That's true," he sighed, "Well, we can try another store." He offered, brushing his hair back with his hands. He knew he was fidgeting but it was all he could do not to kill or brutally maim something. He saw why Kane hadn't shared her experience with him now, but she needed clothes.

The trolls followed them out into the hallway of the mall where Kane turned on them glaring, "Leave us alone or I will teach you what it feels like to walk home with wet pants." She was right in their faces growling at them like a vicious dog ready to bite the head of their leader off.

Kurama snickered, "Come on Kane, let's leave the garbage alone."

She threw her fist at the man's face and he jerked backwards seeing it coming because she was doing it slowly, and he fell on his butt. Scrambling backwards, his friends pulled him up and the three of them ran off.

Kurama smiled at her and offered her his hand, "So, want to try a different store?"

She sighed, "Can we try to buy a soft pretzel? Just, something? I'd be happy if we could buy something simple like that, maybe just..." she sighed again and he saw how deflated she looked. She was not having a good time. Her ears were twitchy, she was getting stared at, and her tail wouldn't quit flipping and twitching as well. The fox was doing her best to center herself, but it wasn't helping. Too many eyes were on them.

Kurama sighed, "Yes, we can." He took her hand and lead her off to the nearest pretzel place, smiling as they came up, "I hope you serve demons."

"Sorry, we can't afford to kill one on accident if they're allergic to any of our food, or have weird like, things that are poisonous to them, like dogs can't eat chocolate sort of thing. Our company hasn't finished a study to determine whether our food is safe for demon consumption, so the policy is we can't sell to them."

"She'll be fine. I promise, she's eaten plenty of junk food. I am human, so I can buy it."

"Sure, you can buy it, but if you give it to her, you cannot hold us accountable for any damages incurred."

"What do you think Kane? Are you allergic to a simple little pretzel?"

"No." She sighed heavily, "It's really irritating how concerned everywhere is about my wellbeing."

"Well, you've got to understand, we really can't afford to be sued. What would you like?" the woman behind the counter asked politely.

"Just a couple of your soft pretzels," Kurama gestured to the display.

She took them out and set them in a bag that she placed on the counter, then asked for payment. Kurama payed for them easily and when they were ten feet away, offered Kane her pretzel.

Kane beamed at him and took it, he saw most of her tension ease away as she focused on her treat, her tail swishing as she smelled it and tried a small bite, nibbling at it to try it. Her eyes lit up when she tasted it and pulled off a larger chunk savoring the taste as she chewed.

Kurama smiled, "You feel alright?"

She nodded energetically.

Kurama grinned and kissed her on the cheek, "Alright. If you start to feel funny let me know, okay? I'd think you'd be fine and you say you'd be fine but it's good to be safe. I don't want to have a dead vixen on my hands." He took a bite of his pretzel and sighed in delight. This was good, this is what she needed. After this, he decided he'd go around as Youko. Though he'd change in the bathroom so no one was startled, and see how they got treated then. He imagined he'd have to buy Kane another pretzel.

After he changed, they didn't just get stares. A security guard made it his job to follow them from store to store, and the clerks barely let them enter. It was only on insistence that everyone had the right to move about freely that they were permitted in, and then, they were watched like they were going to steal something any minute.

When they tried going back into the first store, Kurama and Kane were stopped at the door, and the woman from earlier had her arms folded over her chest, "What did you do with that boy you were with, demon scum?"

"The boy?" Kurama asked softly, frowning.

"She wants to know what I did with Shuichi," Kane filled in.

"Oh, Shuichi. Well, we're both dating Kane." He offered with a smile.

"No, you cannot come in here. If you do, I'm going to call security. You're not welcome here."

"Well, why not?"

"Because. We don't need to give a reason for denial of service, it's our right! I won't serve a murderer or have one in my store!"

"I didn't kill anyone."

"She really didn't. Shuichi, Kane, and myself have all agreed we're one big relationship."

"Hey! You two! I have some questions for you." The security guard came up to them loudly.

Kurama's ears fell and he sighed, "Yes sir?"

"Not here, in the security office. Come with me." He pointed at the clerk, "What was it you were saying? You think these two murdered someone?"

"Yes! Oh Officer Kim, thank you! Please get these two out of here."

Kurama sighed and took Kane's hand, "Alright officer, lead the way."

"Report to security once you get someone to cover your position." He pointed deeper into the mall, "Walk."

Kurama and Kane made their way slowly, and Kurama purposefully took his time. He glanced around at stores and paused every now and then to fix a shoe or his pants.

When they reached the security office, the security guard put them in separate rooms, and locked the doors. Kurama could hear through the door that he was calling the real police about a potential homicide.

Kurama felt the urge to pick open the door, but realized if he did, it might look like he was trying to get away, so instead he lounged out in the chair they provided and sighed heavily.

The next three hours was spent waiting. They waited, and waited, and waited, until finally Kurama heard Kane's door open first. Two people walked in, and he heard them sit down. "Alright, explain to us what you're doing here and who you are."

Kane spoke loudly, loud enough for him to hear. "I'm Kane Lee, a scientist from Demon World, and I'm working for the Hatanaka Corperation, friend of Shiori and Kazuya Hatanaka. I came here to help advance their technologies in the expanding markets of human-demon hybrid mixes."

"Don't be a smart ass!" one of the men shouted angrily.

Kane waited. When the two of them didn't get results from just staring at them, the second of the two asked the same question again. Kane repeated her answer.

Kurama chuckled and smirked. He was going to get some definite entertainment out of this.

After the third repeat, Kane decided to add "Maybe you should explain what you want me to say a little more clearly because I don't know why you keep asking me to repeat myself."

"We don't want you to repeat yourself, we want the truth! Don't avoid the question, explain why you came here and who you are!"

"Are you daft? I've already done that three times!" She breathed heavily, loudly enough for Kurama to hear her, and her chair squeaked. "I'm a scientist from Demon World. I'm working for the Hatanaka corporation. Shiori and Kazuya are my friends and associates here."

"We need you to tell us who you are!"

"I'm a scientist! From Demon World!" Kane exclaimed just as loudly. "I work for Hatanaka! They know me well!"

"That's not who you are!"

"Then who am I? Clearly I don't know!"

Kurama glanced at the wall and felt mischief run through his stomach, he leaned against the wall and loudly answered, "You're a sexy ass vixen!"

"That's not what they want to hear."

"No but it's true!"

"Who're you talking to?" The humans couldn't hear him.

"What's it matter?" she deflated and sighed, "He's not very helpful!"

Kurama's door opened and a single officer came into the room. "Well, well, well. What're you so happy about? You two are being held for abduction of a human."

"Mmm, what am I happy about? I'm just thinking about my lover." Kurama shrugged.

"I'm not sure what there is to be happy about. Unless you explain to us who you are, and what you're doing here, and where that redhead human went, you won't be seeing her again." The detective sat down diagonally to him at the table against the wall.

"That's a long story. You see, the redhead is my lover, and so is Kane. We agreed that we'd both take her to the mall to go shopping, but not together. He had to go do something for work."

"He didn't walk out of this building. Let's start from the top. Who are you?" The detective flipped open some paper.

"You can always look in the bathroom you know."

"We did, he wasn't there." Kurama almost couldn't hear him under the new yelling match on the other side of the wall.

"Who am I?" He frowned, "Well that depends on who you ask."

"I'm asking you." He sat back and crossed his legs.

He rubbed at his chin for awhile. He wasn't sure how to answer that. Saying he was a thief would just get him in deeper mud, so eventually he just answered, "Kurama."

"K-U-R-A-M-A?"

"Yes."

"Last name?"

"Demons don't have last names typically. I don't have a last name."

He sighed. "I need a last name."

"I don't have one."

"Just, give me an alias then."

Kurama's ears flattened, "No. My name is Kurama. I don't want some weird alias attached to me."

"I need to fill in something for our computer systems. I need a last name. If you don't provide me with one I will use Doe. Do you really want to be known as Kurama Doe?"

"You'll put me down as Kurama Has-no-last-name," he smirked, "You could put in Youko Kurama but Youko is not my first name."

"Fine, Kurama Youko." He wrote it down, "Y-O-K-O?"

"No. Y-O-U-K-O."

"Y-O-U-K-O. Alright and why are you here?"

"That's a great question, you have a lot of great questions," Kurama offered as he leaned back in his seat, "I've been asking myself that same question for a long time."

"Don't be stupid. It will just make this process drag out longer. Why are you at this mall today?"

"I came here to go shopping with Kane."

"Where did you enter the mall?"

Kurama heard Kane's exclamation of surprise, "That's what you want? You want to know why I'm at the mall?"

"Yes!" The two shouted in unison.

"Oh! Well say so. I'm here to shop for clothes."

Kurama had to think for a moment, he hadn't been paying attention when he walked in, "I'm not really sure which entrance I came in, I just wanted to find Kane."

"Well, you see, funny thing is we didn't see you come in on any of the footage. Just like we never saw the red-head leave the bathroom, even though he wasn't there. So, you see, I'm sort of thinking you came in the same way you two smuggled him out."

Kurama leaned forward on the table and drew a little with his nail, resting his head on his other hand, bored, "And what way would that be? If we killed him there'd be some indication. Demons are brutal you know."

"No. Demons are fast, and agile, and very, very strong. I'm not sure brutal is the summation of that, and I'm not sure evidence would remain if you didn't want it to. For right now, we're investigating a missing persons however. Until we find the body, you two are being held as kidnappers, not killers."

"Yes we are. If I told you a secret would you keep it for me?" Kurama asked quietly, almost too quietly for him to hear.

"Don't do it, they won't keep anything secret!" Kane called out to him.

"God damn it woman who the fuck are you talking to!"

Kurama glanced at the wall for a moment and looked back at the detective.

"Yes."

"Can I have your word? Will you give it to me in writing? You're promising a demon here, and if you lie to me, I can make sure you don't have a fun life."

"Is that a threat? It's not wise to threaten the law here. We tend to take offense."

"It may be a threat. I'm not really sure. All I know is that if a certain detective lies, his life will turn to hell."

The detective shook his head. "I won't promise you anything. You do not have my word. Not when you threaten me."

Kurama sighed and shifted a little, considering it. He was trying to figure out how he'd tell this man about who he was without making him think Shuichi was a demon. Shuichi was not a demon, he was a human. If he claimed to possess Shuichi that'd take too long, but if it was an agreement on possession, maybe this man would listen. It wasn't true but he wasn't ready to give out his life story.

"No, I don't care what you're thinking, don't you dare tell them!" She shouted right at the wall.

"Sit back down!" The officer grabbed her and she fought against his grasp according to the sounds.

Kurama glanced at the wall, "Calm down."

"I'm not going to when you're thinking of doing something so stupid!"

"I'm just thinking. Don't worry, I'll be fine."

"I don't care! Don't you do it! Don't do it! It's one thing to tell your family but these people are-" Kane struggled with both of the detectives now.

"That's not it. Just let me do this my way. Sit down for the men before you hit one and they throw you in jail, understand?"

"I don't care where I'm going you can't do this!" Another officer came into the room.

"It's my life." Kurama sighed heavily.

"No! You-you can't deprive me of you! I won't let you! I can't let you!" Her voice hitched and cracked.

Kurama's ears fell and his face scrunched up in discomfort, but he remained silent.

"Who were you speaking to?" his detective asked calmly.

Kurama flicked an ear towards the wall, "Animal demons have very acute hearing. I can hear everything that's going on in the next room."

The detective's eyes widened, "What?" He stood up. "Excuse me." he left Kurama alone in the room and entered the one next door. Kane stopped fighting when the man came in and she was slammed against the wall and cuffed.

"Move her to a farther room. They've been communicating. Review the tapes of the interviews to see what they've been talking about."

Kurama sighed and rubbed his face, whining as he straightened out his hair. If he turned into Shuichi it could change the entire case, but part of him wasn't ready for that. He laid against the table, scratching at the table to make swirly designs.

His detective came back into the room. "While this isn't my property, I cannot allow you to deface the property of others."

Kurama glanced up at him briefly and rested his hand against the table, rubbing at the marks. He grew the wood back out and showed the detective the unmarred surface.

"So, you came into the mall, and then what?"

"Met up with Shuichi in the bathroom."

"Where was the bathroom?"

Kurama sighed and rubbed at his head, "It was the bathroom on the first floor, near the pretzel shop."

"And what happened in the bathroom?"

"I may or may not have stolen a glance at his pecker," Kurama snickered.

"Were you alone?"

"In the bathroom?"

"Yes."

"Mostly. I think there might've been someone in a stall."

"Did you enter a stall?"

"Maybe I did." Kurama shrugged.

"I need to know what you did in the bathroom Kurama. I can't just take maybe this, maybe that. You have to tell me the whole, honest truth. "

"Alright. Shuichi and I went into the largest stall to have privacy for a few moments, we kissed," he shrugged, "And then I disembarked to find Kane because he needed to stay longer in the restroom."

"And which stall did you enter? Which side of the bathroom?"

"The largest stall, I just said this. It was the far side, against the wall. Pay attention."

"Which side? Left or right?"

"The left."

"And how was the toilet positioned?"

Kurama sighed, "I don't know, I wasn't paying attention to the damn toilet. I was looking at Shuichi."

"You just proved you could hear through soundproofed walls. I'm not buying it."

Kurama closed his eyes for a few minutes. He really hadn't paid attention to how the toilet was positioned, "Well, it wasn't against the wall. It was sort of centered on the wall."

"What color shirt was Shuichi wearing?"

He frowned for a moment, "A soft sort of blue shirt. I see more hues than you do so it may have looked different to you."

"What color pants?"

"Dark pants."

"You see more hues than we do, what color?"

"It was a sort of darkish blue. Maybe a little green."

"What type of shoes did he have on?"

"Shuichi had on his favorite pair. They're nice dress shoes, a nice dark umber brown."

"What did you two do in the stall together?"

"We kissed," he shrugged.

"Did you stand and kiss or did you lean against something and kiss?"

"Stood."

"Do you remember hearing the other person leave?"

"I remember hearing them leave, yes."

"When?"

"A few minutes after I came in."

"What did you see when you entered the bathroom?"

"What do you mean? I saw a bathroom."

"Describe it in as much detail as you can remember please."

"It's a clean bathroom, four sinks in a large counter, three soap dispensers. There are," he frowned, "Six? Urinals and three stalls. One is large for the handicapped and the other two are smaller. The walls are tiled, and so are the floors obviously. The lights were a soft white, but the bathroom was well lit."

"Go on."

Kurama shrugged, "Some paper towel dispensers. The trash can is next to the door. I'm not sure what else there really is to describe."

"Were any of the stall doors open or closed?"

"Well, one of them was closed, and we closed ours. The other one was slightly ajar."

"Could you see feet beneath the door?"

"I could. Though I really didn't pay them any heed."

"So walk me through what happens when you enter the bathroom. You walk in, you see someone in one of the stalls, the largest door is open, then what?"

"I find Shuichi in the largest stall. He was about to close it but he let me in."

"What side did you approach the bathroom from? The left or the right?"

"The stall?"

"No, the bathroom."

"The left."

"Why were you going into the bathroom?"

"To meet up with Shuichi, and I had to piss."

"Why was Shuichi in the stall?"

"To piss. He doesn't always like using the urinals and I think he needed to take a shit too."

"Where was Kane?"

"I'm not sure if she went to the bathroom or not, but I saw her on my way in."

"You saw her?" The detective sat forward, "Did she see you?"

"Probably, I'm not really sure. I can't answer that because I'm not her."

"Alright, so you entered the bathroom from the right and Shuichi was standing in front of the sink," he nodded sitting back.

"I said left."

"Oh, the left, okay. So you entered the bathroom from the left and saw Shuichi."

"You don't really pay attention do you? Shuichi was in the stall, but I saw him coming in."

"You saw him go into the bathroom?"

The interrogation lasted nearly three more hours before they were released because Shiori and Hatanaka were finally contacted, and said their son was home. Shiori came and got the two of them from the mall and they walked back to Kurama's home in silence. When the door finally shut she rounded on the two of them looking pissed, "What were you thinking! You changed in public? What would happen if they hadn't actually believed me?"

"I changed in the bathroom. I would have gotten out eventually, I've gotten out of worse scenarios."

"There are so many biases against demons here Shuichi, you can't just do things like that." She grabbed his cheeks staring up at him, her expression pained. "I can't stand to lose you just because of what you are."

Kurama gently pushed her arms away from his face, "If it had come to it I would've erased his memory with one of my flowers and got myself, and then change and get Kane out."

"They were recording us." Kane grumbled, glaring at him. "You would have caused yourself a world of problems. The best thing would have been to change into a little fox and get taken to animal control."

Kurama sighed and walked away from both of them, making his way over to the window to stare out much like Hiei might if he were upset. He powered down into his human form and sighed, crossing his arms.

Shiori sighed and wrapped her arms around him pulling him into a hug, "I'm just glad you're alright."

"I am too." He patted her back gently, "I just wanted Kane to have a good time but I ruined that," he sighed heavily.

"No, you didn't ruin that," Kane sighed and touched his arm softly, "You didn't. You got me a pretzel. I was very happy with that, and I can hold onto that as a good time. I wanted you to know what it's like trying to buy things for me, and now you know. That's what I wanted, and you did that for me."

Kurama sighed, "Alright. Well, I've had enough excitement for one day."

Shiori released him and rubbed his back, "Alright, I'll leave you two alone. Just, please Shuichi, don't do this again. It ... it's scary to get a call like that."

"No promises." Kurama chuckled, "I can't help it if someone takes me in for something. I'll try not to do it again, but I can't promise anything."

"That's the most I can hope for." She kissed his cheek. "You two be good, okay?" Shiori headed for the door. Kane escorted her pulling it open and receiving a hug.

Kurama followed after them, "No promises there either. I like my vixens bad," he winked at Kane and pulled Shiori into a tight hug, "Stay safe Mother."

"I will honey, you too." she patted his back. "See you at work tomorrow."

"Alright. I love you Mother." Kurama kissed her cheek and lead her out the rest of the way, watching her go. When she was finally out of sight he turned to look at Kane and sighed, coming back in.

Kane wrapped him up in a hug and kissed a trail of spittle up his neck to his cheek.

Kurama chuckled and rubbed her back, "So, what are we doing now?"

"I don't know."

Kurama kissed her cheek and smiled, "What do you want for dinner?"

"Dinner?" She studied the clock, "Mm, I suppose it is close to that time huh?"

"It is. Would you like something special or just a normal old dinner?" He leaned back to watch her face. He could grab something from a nearby restaurant, or try to get Kane into a restaurant. That'd be special if he could. Or he could cook.

Kane sighed, "I've had enough of humans for the day I think. I might go home and become a humanitarian."

"Nah," he kissed her on the lips, "How about you cook me dinner?"

"Uhh, are you sure you want that?"

"Yes." He smiled.

"I'm not very good."

"I don't care. Cook me dinner, please?"

"Fine, but, uh, okay, fine." She nodded and vanished into the kitchen.

Kurama watched her go and found a comfy spot on the couch to relax and await dinner.


	11. Chapter 11 The Boss

Vena sighed as she dragged herself out of bed and found her way over to Hiei, wrapping her arms around him, "Why did you get out of bed?"

"I need to get moving. You, stay here. If anything starts happening that puts Yukina in danger, take her into the shadows and protect her."

"Where are you going?"

Hiei sighed, "I'm going to tell Mukuro about my leave of absence."

"Mm." Vena grunted, "You can't just let her figure it out?"

"No. I don't want her getting the wrong impression about anything that's going on. I'm going to tell her in person. Can you protect Yukina for me?"

"Yeah."

"I'm trusting you with her life Vena." Hiei added sternly. It was a huge deal. She didn't know how huge, but to him, it was like entrusting the world to the woman. It was providing her a knife, and offering up his throat.

"I heard you the first time Hiei."

"I need to know you'll do it. You'll protect her. Give me your word you'll protect Yukina, no matter what."

"I'll protect Yukina no matter what."

He had to debate whether he actually trusted her word or not. In many ways, they hadn't tested one another. He didn't know if she was going to be honest with him, or if she would just dismiss it. Maybe she realized how much Yukina meant to him, maybe she didn't. It worried him either way. If she didn't, she might not take this job seriously, if she did, well. He didn't want to think about what assumptions she might be making about why he cared so deeply for her. "Yukina's... " he frowned, he couldn't say it. He couldn't say that Yukina was his sister, his only blood relative he knew, his one connection to the life he never had.

"I know what she is." Vena shook her head against his shoulder.

"She needs to be safe." he touched her arm softly.

"I know," Vena rubbed at her face with one hand, "I heard you."

"If that oaf of hers is going to be stupid, you might want to just take them both."

"I'll protect them both. Don't worry Hiei." She kissed him on the lips and stepped back.

"You don't have to protect the oaf, just, don't let him die. Yukina can heal so if you bring them together, she can heal him. He needs to be allowed to fight to protect Yukina though, some stupid thing about honor."

She frowned, but nodded.

"Oh, and don't leave the fox out in the rain. He gets grumpy when he's wet."

"Tch, don't leave yourself out in the rain." She scolded.

Hiei smirked, "Can I trust you?" He wrapped his arms around her waist.

"You can, once I wake up," she chuckled, nuzzling into his shoulder.

"I won't be long." he kissed her cheek and ran his hand up her back holding her close. It felt strange to want contact with her, but he did.

"Good because I'm ready to crawl back into bed. So get your ass moving," she spanked his rear end.

Hiei jumped and glared at her, "Fine. I'll be back in three years." He kissed her and vanished.

She chuckled and headed off to bed to lay down and let herself wake up.


	12. Chapter 12 Playing Games

The dish Kane made was something akin to a mix between a soup, a stew, and a stir fry. Her intention had been a soup, but she overcooked it, so she tried to make it a stew, which didn't go well because she added sugar instead of flour, so instead, she had a glazed, boiled off, stir fry, with runny vegetables and very chewy meat.

She plated a little bit of it and brought it out to him in the living room with a skeptical stare. "This is probably going to taste burnt and stale, but it's the best I could salvage."

He took the plate from her and sat up from where he had been lounging, "Mm, it's alright." He took a bite. He wanted to spit it out, but he swallowed and smiled.

"You're braver than I am. How bad is it?"

"Um. It's a little salty." He frowned, "Has a very sweet aftertaste."

"Salty? I added enough sugar to kill a cow."

"Don't add sugar to stir fries." Kurama shook his head.

"I wasn't trying to cook a stir fry," she sighed heavily and took the plate for him.

Kurama took it back easily, "No-"

"You, are not eating any more of that!" Kane snapped. "I will not poison you worse than I already have."

Kurama sighed, "It might make my stomach a bit upset but I'll be fine."

"Yeah, well, you're not eating more of it. If we go somewhere I can make a campfire, and we can catch a kill, I'll cook you the best dead meat you've ever had roasted, but these, complex, pans, and things, are just too complex for me."

"No, it's alright Kane." He took a bite, this time going after the meat. It was palatable, but chewy, and he could feel his cheek muscles straining to get it down.

She rolled her eyes at him and left the room.

"Kane!" Kurama sighed and followed after her, setting the plate down on the coffee table, "I'm just glad you made me something."

She had out a bowl and that sight sent a shiver down his spine. Then, she popped a bag in the microwave, and pressed the popcorn button. She folded her arms glaring at him, daring him to deny her this.

"Oh, I like popcorn." Kurama smiled approvingly.

"I can make popcorn." She nodded.

He made his way back into the living room and picked up the plate, feeding off the food to one of his carnivorous plants, which demanded a lot of water after eating it. He came back in and set the plate in the sink, grabbing his pitcher and filling it mostly to the brim, "My plant sure liked it," he offered.

"I'm a fox," She poked at the burned, crusted skillet which needed cleaning. She wasn't sure how to go about starting that. She'd salvaged his plate from beneath a layer of crust.

"What about being a fox?" He turned the water off, "I'll clean the skillet." He offered as he made his way to the plant and thoroughly watered it. He put his things away and settled at her side.

She pulled out the popcorn bag and dumped it into a bowl, pressing that to his chest. "Here you are. I have cooked for you."

"Oh how beautiful."

"Isn't it though? Consistent, clean, and I'm not afraid to taste test this one."

"Mmm, got some butter?"

Her face darkened. "What? I thought it came buttered."

He tasted it and chuckled, "I'm only joking."

"Jackass." She smacked his arm.

He kissed her cheek, "Besides, I have butter in the fridge."

She sighed, "I am not listening to you." She marched out of the kitchen.

"No?" He followed after her with a trot, "Why not? So you won't listen to me when I tell you, you're a sexy vixen?"

"Nope, I won't listen to you just like I won't tell you that you're voice made me quiver in the guard's office, until you started being stupid."

He smirked, "Yeah?"

"That was very stupid of you." She took a seat on the sofa.

"So you won't listen to me," he sat next to her and offered her some popcorn.

"No." She took a piece and let it dissolve on her tongue.

"So I'll just, have to show you then," he offered, licking a piece of popcorn before popping it into his mouth.

She squinted at him. "That had to be cold."

"Hm?"

"Nothing." Kane snuggled up against his side and held out popcorn in front of his lips.

He frowned, "No, what?" He took the popcorn with his tongue.

"Eating wet popcorn."

"Not really. You see, I have a human body, and human bodies are warm," he shrugged, "So naturally, my saliva and tongue are also warm."

"But saliva in air is not warm."

He tugged her down closer and licked her mouth, "Is that warm?"

"Not on my lips it's not." She licked his saliva away.

He snickered and took a few more pieces of popcorn.

Kane chuckled and nuzzled against his neck, "You smell like a lover."

"Yeah?" He offered her a piece of popcorn, "So what are we doing this fine evening?"

"You're asking me? I already had something we were doing and we finished it. It's your turn."

"Let's play the game Hiei hates with an absolute passion." Kurama offered, leaning forward. He moved around some things on the coffee table, namely a plant and a few books. He sat back with a stack of cards, "Do you know this game?"

"No?"

"It's called Go Fish."

"Okay."

"The object of the game is to get the most pairs of face values. You play until the deck is gone, and you have no cards. You ask the other player for a specific card face value, if they do not have it, they will tell you, 'Go Fish' and you have to take another card from the pile. If they do have it, they must give it over. When you have a set of three or four cards, they go into a pile next to you as a single point. When the deck is out, we end the game."

"Alright, let's play then."

Kurama nodded, "We're playing with a normal deck, that means say you have a four of hearts. You must also get a four of diamonds, a four of spades, and a four of clubs. You must get each suit, and that is considered a single point." He started handing out their cards, seven each, "You may look at your cards." He offered.

Kane picked up her cards and settled back, "How about we up the stakes and each time we have to fish, which is going to happen a lot, we also have to ask each other something? So it's fishing for information as well as a card. If you're off track, or what you ask is not something we can answer easily in one sentence or less, then you have to discard a card to the deck because you failed to fish. If you can't come up with a fishing question, then you have to discard."

"I can get behind that." Kurama nodded, "Who shall start?"

"You, since you need to show me how it's done."

"Alright then Kane. Do you have…" He frowned and studied his cards, "Do you have a nine?"

"Uh," she shuffled her cards around, flipping a couple over, and re-organizing, then shook her head. "No. Now I have to tell you to fish, so go fish." Her ears flicked back and forth as she decided if she liked her addition to the game or not.

He chuckled and took a card, "So Kane, did you have any siblings growing up?"

"Yes, I have quite a few siblings." Kane looked down at her cards skeptically, "So now I ask you if you have something I have, but, I don't want you to know that I have what I have, so how does that work?"

"It doesn't. You have to ask about what cards you have. However, if I do have them, I can't ask about them because I've given them to you."

"Oh, okay, that makes some sense."

"So go ahead and ask," Kurama leaned back.

"Um, do you have any Jacks?"

Kurama squinted at his cards, shifting them, and shook his head, "Go fish."

Kane sighed, "Did you enjoy being the Bandit King?" She asked as she drew a card, sure of her ability to pose a question.

"For a while yes, but I don't think I would anymore, though I still have impulses." He shifted and examined his cards, glancing up at her, tracing along the top of his cards, "Mm, do you have any sevens?"

"Nope. Go fish."

He took a card and frowned, "Would you have enjoyed being a Bandit Queen?"

"Probably not. I don't really like fame all that well. I like being in the shadows." Kane examined her cards and nodded, "Do you have any kings?"

Kurama sighed heavily and tossed her his card.

Her eyes brightened and she sat up straighter, "Oh my god, really? You actually have a king?" She picked it up examining it.

"Yes." He smiled.

"Now what?"

"Well, now you can ask for another card." He offered, "Or take your chances and draw."

"Do you have any eights?"

Kurama deflated and tossed that card at her too, "Damn woman."

"You can't be serious." Kane stared at it. She slowly picked it up, eyeing him suspiciously, "You're not just, like, making me feel better, are you?"

"No."

She sighed, "Okay, do you have any sixes?"

He examined his cards, "Go fish."

"How many memorable relationships have you had?" she asked, then remembered to pick up a card. She tucked it in close.

"Mm, a handful. I'd say four or five." He watched her and sighed, "Do you, Miss Kane, have any…" he frowned, "Any twos?"

"Oh, yes, I do." She passed them over.

Kurama took them and set the four aside, "One point for me."

"And now you ask for something else because you got what you wanted?"

He picked up a card, "How many memorable lovers have you had?"

"Depends on how you define lover, but basically one."

He nodded and watched her, waiting. She jerked and looked down at her cards. "Well, um. Do you have any fours?"

"Uh, no, go fish."

"Do you think a human or a horse would win in a fight?" she drew a card and settled it into the middle of her grouping.

"Depends. Probably the horse if it was angry enough, but if the human had a gun, that'd be a different story." Kurama leaned back more and examined his cards, she already knew about his sevens and nines, but he still had two she didn't know about. He frowned and shifted his cards, "Do you have a ten?"

"Um," Kane flipped through her cards and shook her head, "Nope." She waited for him to do what he needed to do until he sipped his water and sat back staring at her, "Oh, right, go fish."

He drew a card and sighed, looking back up at her, "Why did you ask me if a human or a horse would win in a fight?"

"I want to know more about the way you think things through."

He grunted and waited for her, rearranging his cards.

"Do you have any kings?"

"Nope. Go fish."

"What is your favorite vacation destination?" Kane pulled a card.

"Oh, one of my more private dens. It's very lush, my largest den." He frowned, "Have any fives?"

"Nope. Go fish." Kane took a sip of her drink as well.

He drew a card and nodded to himself, "Who do you think would win, a horse or a human?"

"I'd put my bet on a horse actually. They're, uh, what would you call that, larger? They just have more body mass than a human and in a fight without powers," she shrugged. "What was I on? Oh, right, uh, Jacks? Do you have any jacks?"

"Go fish."

"What is the longest time you've ever been sick?"

"God I don't know." He frowned, "A couple of months? It was a pretty nasty illness. Do you have any aces?"

"Nope. Go fish."

Kurama drew a card and nodded to himself, "Alright, do you have a hidden den?"

Kane was focused in on her cards, organizing them further. "I don't think that's the type of question you're supposed to ask. You're supposed to ask about a card. Oh, wait, you're fishing." She laughed, "Okay, um, hidden dens." She considered it, "I have one, but I lost it."

"Huh." He frowned.

"Do you have any eights?" she asked, shifting two cards to the back of her stack.

"Go fish."

Kane sighed and stared at the deck. "It's dwindling pretty fast."

"Yep."

She drew a card. She rolled her eyes when she saw it and tucked it in the back of her stack which she now just held as a deck. "What is your favorite season?"

"I like spring." He offered, "Spring and summer are pretty tied. Do you have any Jacks?" He was grinning, he had caught her.

Her eyes thinned into a glare as she fished them out of her back, and held them out to him. He took them and grinned, "Thank you. Do you have," he frowned as he examined his cards, "Any sevens?"

"No. Go fish."

He drew a card and nodded, "Do you have a favorite season?"

"Winter. I don't like sleeping in the heat." She shuffled her cards until she came across the one she wanted on top, "Do you have any eights?"

"No. Go fish."

Kane sighed and drew a card. "What was your favorite thing to do as a child in human world?"

His face darkened and he shook his head, "Nothing really. I enjoyed reading a great deal, but that was the only thing. Do you have any aces?"

"No. God, do we like, have nothing in common?"

He drew a card and shrugged, "I think we have some things in common, just not everything. Do you have a favorite memory as a child?"

"Just playing with my brother." Kane was focused on her cards."Do you have any queens?"

"Go fish."

She pulled a card and Kurama saw her eyes light up. She smiled, "What's your favorite phrase?"

He frowned, "I really don't have a favorite phrase. Maybe… No, not really." He shrugged, "'Baa'?" he chuckled.

Kane blinked and stared at him, her head tipped so far to the side he thought her neck might break. Her ears flipped about trying to make sense of the sound, it was like he spoke a foreign language to her.

"It's a long story." Kurama waved her off, "Do you have any sevens?"

"Not yet. Go fish."

He drew a card and sighed, he would have to come up with something really good to stop her from thinking about asking about 'baa' but it had just slipped out. "What's your favorite phrase then?"

"Um." She replied decidedly. "Do you have any eights yet?"

He laughed, "No, I do not have any eights. Go fish vixen."

She drew a card and stared at him, trying to figure out how to best ask about Baa without getting something too long for the game.

He waited, gently rearranging his cards.

"In what context did "baa" become your favorite phrase?"

"It was a contest if you will. I had to say a word to basically save my soul." He shrugged, "I won."

She smiled.

"Okay, do you have any," he glanced up at her skeptically.

"We've got half the deck between us, if we don't have something in common I'll be shocked."

"Well, I could ask for something but I just asked for it." The deck was small and he needed a seven. She'd drawn a card, but he didn't know if it was plausible she'd gotten a seven, she could have gotten a Jack, or an Ace. He swallowed a few times, it was more plausible she'd gotten a different card, a card that had more in the deck still, he only had two fives, and two nines. He considered it before glancing up at her, "Do you have any fives?"

She shook her head, "Not yet." She flipped the last card she pulled over and grinned at him, waving it in the air a little, triumphant. It was the seven he'd been looking for. "Go fish."

"Damnit." He drew a card with a heavy sigh,

Kane chuckled, "Your question?"

He discarded a card and took a moment to reshuffle the small deck.

Kane's mouth dropped open, "Oh my god you didn't!"

He grinned at her, "I'm a devil aren't I?"

"You're merciless!"

"I'm merciless anywhere, anytime, any place," he shrugged.

She laughed and shook her head, "Do you have any other sevens?"

He growled at her and tossed the cards at her.

She scooped them up triumphantly and shuffled them into her hand. "It's four, so I can't put those down yet. I have to ask about another thing though because I actually got something from you. Do you have any sexes?" She asked with a completely serious face.

His face contorted in confusion and he frowned, "What?"

"Sexes, you know," she drew a nine in the air.

"That's… not… Kane." Kurama shifted, watching her skeptically.

Her face gradually drew into a grin as she tried to hold it back. Her tail gave her away as it started thumping.

"I have a sex?"

"You do? Well then hand it over." she held out her hand.

"I'm not handing you my genitals."

"Oh no, I'm talking about a card. Don't you know?"

"No, go fish."

She sighed, "Fine, but only if you promise to answer my question." She drew a card lazily.

"I don't promise anything."

"Do you have any sixes?" she asked as she tucked her drawn card away.

"No." He shook his head, "Do you have any nines?"

"No."

He sighed and drew a card, and nodded, "Okay. What's your ideal happily ever after?"

"I'm not exactly sure. Like, I'd be happy to just be allowed to explore sciences and technology, but, I also want someone with me. I've been alone researching for years now, and I don't like being alone, not this alone. It's nice to have you here when I come here." She wouldn't look at him as she said it, just, focused on her cards.

He smiled, "I enjoy having you."

She smiled as well and glanced up at him shyly. "Do you have any fours?"

He glanced at his deck, "Go fish."

Kane nodded and drew, then paused and stared at it, frowning. "Uh. Now what do I do? Set it aside right?"

"If you have four of a kind, yes." He nodded, "You get one point."

Kane pulled out her four cards and showed them to him, then lay the cards aside. "So I ask again?"

"Yep."

"But my question, I didn't get to fish for information." she frowned.

"You can if you want and not go again." He offered.

She shook her head, "Nah, I'll ask again. Do you have any threes?"

He scowled and handed his three over.

She smiled, "Really? Oh cool." She tucked it away and slipped those to the back of her deck. "Any kings?"

"Go fish."

"Why do you use the rose as your weapon?" she drew a card slowly.

"I like roses, they smell nice, and they have thorns." He shrugged, "Do you have," he frowned as he examined his cards, "Any fives?"

"Nope, go fish."

He sighed, "What's your preferred weapon?"

"Spear, or halberd. They can be unruly though so I use swords a lot."

He grinned and pulled his cards out, showing her his four Jacks.

"Oh nice!" she grinned.

He nodded and straightened up, "Do you, have any," he scanned over his cards, "Any Aces?"

"Go fish again."

He sighed heavily and examined his card, "Alright," he shifted and frowned, "What's your favorite meal?"

"Roasted stuffed wild rabbit."

"Mmm, that sounds good."

"Do you have any kings?"

He sighed heavily and deflated, handing the card over.

She hadn't been looking at him when he held it out, but when he didn't respond, she looked up and smiled. She took the card from him, brushing their fingers together softly. "Thank you," she held the card up near her lips, her head tipped down and her ears perked forward giving him an enticing stare.

He flushed when he looked at her and looked back to his cards, clearing his throat.

"What about a queen, Mr. Kurama?" she whispered quietly.

"Go Fish." It was a pitch too high.

Kane pouted and huffed, "Fine." She pulled a card and opened her mouth to ask the question then frowned, "Shit. Well there goes that." she set four threes aside.

"Hm, oh, we're tied," he grinned at her.

"I was going to ask you if you thought I was sexy on bottom, but now we're tied." She sucked her teeth in a very un-sexy way and stared at the cards in her hand.

He flushed a bright red and nearly squeaked, but bit his finger to keep from squeaking. That was going to throw a wrench into his mental cogs.

"Do you have any tens?"

He sighed and handed it over.

She grinned and just touched the card for several seconds, until he made eye contact with her, at which point the vixen retrieved it daintily from his fingers, softly and gently. "You just love putting out for me, don't you?" She flashed her eyes at him.

He tried to focus on his cards but that was failing, "Uh, yeah, I guess."

"Yeah?" She stuck the ten on her deck and flipped three cards to the back, "You love to see me with a nice big stack?"

He groaned and leaned back to disappear into the couch.

"What about eights? You have one of them for me too?"

"Go fish."

"Oh I'll fish alright." she eyed him. "What's your favorite position?" she drew a card after asking.

He flushed a bright red, fire truck red, "You'll just have to find out." Shit. Shit, he had not just said that. He pushed himself further into the couch attempting to hide behind his cards.

She grinned in response and sat back, "Your turn hot-shot."

"Uhm," he frowned, attempting to focus on his cards, "Do you have any nines?"

"I'm sorry sexy, I can't give you that, you're going to have to fish for it." she spoke in a lighter, airier voice.

He leaned forward to grab a card and sighed, trying to get his brain to kick start again. He blinked a few times and tucked it into his pile, "Uhm. Do you, do you like this game?"

"Yes. I like this game. I get to flirt with you and we have to finish the game, so you might not take it as an actual advance when it's tactic. I will admit I like flirting with you."

"Uh huh," he nodded.

"Do you have that seven you so rudely discarded?"

"I do not. Go fish."

"What's your favorite type of woman?" she asked leaning far enough forward he could see down her shirt.

"A nice curvy woman. Not some tiny little-" he stopped midsentence to stare. Dear god if he didn't get his act together he was going to get his ass kicked. He was getting his ass kicked.

Kane was holding the card she'd just drawn up to her nose, taking a long sniff. She sighed in relief, and plucked three cards from her hand, "They smell like you, after all that time in your hand."

He deflated and leaned back against the couch.

She chuckled and set the stack aside, "Yes, I like this game alright. Do you have any fours?"

"Go fish."

"What's your favorite fish?"

"Asagi Koi fish." he answered without hesitation.

"Uh huh," she set four more cards side.

"What?" He demanded, whining.

"Well all that's left is something that matches this stack of bullshit I have in my hand." Kane thumbed her stack of cards. "I had like twelve of them."

"Okay, ask."

"Do you have any kings?"

"Go fish."

"Do you believe in soul mates?" she asked before drawing again.

"To a point." He nodded. He glanced up at her, waiting.

"It wasn't a full set." She shook her head.

"Uh, what? Oh, uh," he cleared his throat, "Have any eights?"

She frowned at him, "I suppose, if you really want them," she pulled the cards from her hand, wiping her hands all over them to get her scent meshed with the cards.

"I really want them." He held his hand out to her.

She passed them over. "Too bad too. I was hoping to totally outshine you here."

"Hn," he grunted, "Any fives?"

"No."

He took a card, "Do you like," he frowned, what was he going to ask. He shifted and stared at his feet, "Do you really like my cooking?"

"Yes, I do. It's a lot different than campfire cooking, but you don't have a campfire. I sure as hell can't cook here. Everything just feels wrong."

He chuckled and nodded.

"Any queens yet?"

He shook his head, "Fish."

She nodded. "When is your birthday?"

He looked up at her and smiled, "December 29th. Do you have any tens?"

She frowned, "Remind me it's not a good plan to tease you next time I start to flirt." She passed them over.

He grinned, "Why's that?"

"You start pulling out from your ass backwards seating once you wake up."

He smirked, "Okay, have any nines?"

"No." She flipped through her six cards and smiled, "This is almost over. Go fish."

He took a card and sighed, "Alright," he took a second look and grinned, "Ha," he put some cards away and grinned at her.

Kane sighed and shook her head, "Too bad, now I really have to kick your ass at this game."

"Yep. So, have any Aces?"

"No, go fish." she didn't even have to look.

He grabbed a card and perked up, "Ha!" He held up an Ace and set his cards aside, "Have any eights?"

"No," she leaned back and drank her water, finishing it.

He frowned and took another card, he grinned, "Ha! Hahaha!" he set his cards aside, "Okay, any fives?"

"Nope."

He drew a card and nodded, "Alright. Did you think getting me horny would really work?"

"Well I was trying to stop you from asking about cards you knew I had." Kane shrugged, "You lost focus on the game."

"I did." He agreed.

"Didn't help." She sighed, "Do you have any queens?"

He deflated, but took a moment and smirked, staring up at her. He slid the card into his pants briefly and tossed it at her.

Kane laughed and scooped it up pulling a pubic hair off of it and twirling it in her fingers, "Red down there too huh?" she teased. She set the queens aside.

"Yep, red everywhere." He agreed.

"Any kings?"

"Go fish."

"What's your pet peeve?" she drew a card and set it on top.

"People touching my hair without permission, like Shizuru." He rolled his eyes, "Got any fives?"

She tossed the card over to him. He grabbed it and grinned, "Thank you love."

"You're welcome pretty boy, do you have any kings?"

"Go fish."

Kane smiled, "If you could live anywhere at all, with all your family, where would you go to live?" she drew as she waited for him to answer leaving one card left.

"Somewhere deeper into the Human World forests."

She nodded and finally looked down at her card to smile, "Would you look at that." She set down her hand.

He sighed, flipped the last card, and tossed his fives down with it. "This one's mine then."

Kane nodded.

He smiled and got up to lean over her and kiss her on the lips.

He felt her squeak more than he heard it. She pressed their faces closer and her energy swirled and whipped as her breath caught at the gentle little touch. She hadn't just worked him up when she was teasing him. She settled it quickly, almost too quickly for him to realize exactly what happened, but when he figured out why his own energy spiked, that it was in response to her, he had to grin.

Kurama kissed her again softly and smiled, "So," he offered quietly.

"So," she whispered breathily back. She licked her lips, staring into his eyes.

He kissed her again and pulled her close, "I'll just keep kissing you I think."

She whined and snuggled into his arms getting as close to him as she could, which was as in her lap as she could get. She wrapped an arm around his shoulder sliding her hand along his back to cup under his hair.

Kurama kissed her and let them squirm about on the chair until Kurama pulled back, "This is backwards." He murmured.

"But I don't want to stop," she kissed down his cheek to his neck and straddled his lap sitting on his knees perched awkwardly on the chair.

He laughed and kissed her, "Alright, but the bed or the couch might be better."

Kane huffed, irritated, and pulled back. "I need to do something first." she nipped at his neck up high enough he couldn't cover it without a significant scarf of some sort.

"What?"

"I'm not letting you go," she whispered against his skin, then suckled on it and nipped again starting a hickey.

"Hey there feisty vixen, I have work," he tried to push her off his neck.

"It's about time those damn women stop pawing over you," she growled, her ears back. She leaned on his shoulders, her back straight glowering down at him.

"Okay, well," he grunted, staring up at her.

"I'm keeping you. They can't paw over you. I won't share with them."

"I know, I know, but really?"

"Yes," she nuzzled against his neck again curling back down arching her back out to do so. She didn't nip this time, just nuzzled, bumping and rubbing his neck with her nose and cheeks, her fluffy ears tickling his jaw and neck.

He rubbed at his neck, "Come kiss me."

"Will you tell them to back off? That you're with me?" she asked quietly. She placed a gentle, claiming hand on his solar plexus.

"Yes." He nodded.

She sighed in relief and kissed him. "Thank you." she kissed him in response.

He kissed her back and went to lean back but caught himself before they fell off the chair, "Do we have to stay in this chair?"

She shook her head and dismounted the chair with effort. Once she was up, she pulled him up and wouldn't let go of his hand until they crawled into bed together to explore her effect on him.


	13. Chapter 13 Letting Go

Hiei managed to get himself to Human World before Mukuro. The Kakai was gone, but strong demons didn't like the lack of demon energy in Human World and Mukuro was no exception, she wouldn't come. Still, he was having trouble walking, and it would be a lot easier if he could just ride in a shadow and float. He felt like tenderized meat.

"Vena, it's me." he leaned against a tree pushing his weight up off his injured leg.

"Hm? Oh, Hiei!"

"Yeah, can you come get me?"

"That'll take a few minutes, Human World shadows are weird."

"Hn." He sat down at the base of the tree to wait for her, tucking his legs up slowly from the damage they'd received in particular. She hadn't wanted him to leave, so Mukuro attacked his legs more than his arms or torso, and she'd landed several hits.

It was a few minutes before there were footsteps towards him, "Hey handsome."

He really wasn't that handsome right now, his face was black and blue from Mukuro's fist, and over that there were cuts and blood dripping down his face. His clothes, usually perfect, were ripped, cut, and slit in different areas from head to toe, but what stood out to Hiei was that Mukuro had deeply injured his left thigh and calf. She'd partially injured his right calf too, but it was better off than the left. He waited for her to revise that statement.

Vena knelt down beside him and gently touched his arm, "You're pretty beat up."

He nodded. Mukuro had destroyed his cloak, and along with it his bandages and such. He took her hand to try pulling himself up, but it hurt to bend too much.

She pulled him up to his feet, "Do we want to travel through shadows?"

"Yeah, if it's shorter. I've lost a lot of blood." He felt lightheaded it had been so much. Usually he didn't get light headed when he lost blood.

"That's questionable." She scooped him up and they disappeared into the shadow realm. In the realm it was pretty empty, except for the occasional object like a light pole or a boulder. It was purely black where objects were absent, but he could see everything as if it were being lit up. What caught his attention where the varying shades of black that followed them along and cracked and growled.

"You have guests in here," he lay his head against her arm and chest to keep it supported as she jostled him about with each step.

"Mm, they're just shadow beasts." She dismissed, "They won't hurt us."

"Hn."

Eventually Vena stopped and they reappeared in Genkai's temple, in Vena's room. She set him down on the bed, "There, alright. I'll get some bandages, any special requests?"

Hiei shook his head, "Don't tell Yukina? I don't want her worried or healing me for something as minor as this. I just need some rest."

"I won't. Don't worry." She kissed him on the lips and made her way out of the room.

* * *

When Hiei woke up next, he was bandaged, and beneath the covers with Vena cuddling up to his chest. They were both mostly naked, just pants for him, and pants and an undershirt for her. It was distracting to say the least and when he reached out for her, his arms ached and reminded him they did not want to move soon. He'd used a lot of muscle strength trying to overpower Mukuro in physical combat and he was just worn out, through and through.

Still, he managed to stroke Vena's bangs aside.

"How are you feeling?"

"Hn."

She shifted to look at him and pushed herself up, running a hand through his hair, "You'll get better soon." She kissed him on the lips and rubbed his chest, her lips in a thin line as she sighed, "I don't like seeing you hurt."

"Mmm," It felt like a weight had pinned his mouth shut. He didn't want to break the idea of a peaceful quiet day by moving it and waking up fully.

She sighed and shook her head, "Do you want anything?"

He struggled forward enough to kiss her lips. It hurt to move still. Everything was tired, but their lips pressed together, just that little bit of skin, so sensitive, so willing, made his stomach crawl with pleasant butterflies and he was able to sigh and relax back towards sleep. He wrapped an arm over her waist to keep her from leaving. It felt like it weighed enough to pin her there.

Vena shifted enough to run her fingers through his hair, "Go to sleep."

He grunted in response and winced from that, holding his stomach with his other arm.

She rubbed his stomach and sighed, "Yukina is doing good. No one's come close."

"Shit, Yukina," he sighed heavily, "That's right, that's why I left." He grumbled and considered getting up.

"Did you not tell Mukuro?"

"Well," he sighed and shook his head, "Not really. We ended up on a different argument."

"I could tell her."

Hiei clutched her tightly and shook his head, "No! No! Don't go near her Vena! Don't do that." he dragged her closer to him, his heart thumping.

"Hiei, you tend to forget I'm a shadow demon, I can be gone-"

"I don't give a shit if you can teleport to the moon! I don't want you fighting Mukuro and she will try to kill you if you are in her sights. She hates you. She thinks that killing you will somehow win me over."

Vena sighed, "I'm not a little thing to protect."

"I'm not trying to protect you, I'm trying to protect me!"

Vena watched him for a while.

"We started arguing about you. She was accusing us of being fake, I was accusing her of being a greedy bitch who can't take no for an answer, and we disagreed."

"Idiot." She sighed.

"I can't… I don't want to lose you Vena." he stroked her hair, relaxing. "I've become too attached to fair well."

"Like you're going to lose me."

"Mukuro isn't some normal fighter, her weapons are, they're..." he sighed and shook his head burying his face against her as best he could, breathing slowly. "I don't want you in harm's way and you might be with her weapons. If you were… in danger, I'd do anything to protect you." The thought made him shiver.

Vena sighed, "I appreciate it Hiei, I really do," she frowned, "Look, we have to go back there eventually."

"No we don't." He whispered back, "We can find some place to settle down, we can live together, away from all of that drama and bullshit she brought into our lives. We can… can just be together, happy."

She stared at him, and with the way her face contorted, he knew she was thinking hard, "I've never really," she glanced at the door for a moment before looking back at him, "That's going to be hard."

"I know, it'll be hard to adjust for me too, but if Youko Kurama can settle down and have a home, so can we. We can find some quiet part of Demon World and build a life for ourselves."

She shook her head and sat up, away from him, "I don't know Hiei."

"Why not? What's wrong with the idea?" he furrowed his brow, locking eyes with her.

Vena sighed, "I'm not ready to settle down Hiei. I'd love to be with you but I'm not ready for that."

"You're not ready to have a place to call home?"

"I," she frowned, "I don't know Hiei. I really don't have a home, not in these worlds."

"But you… you have..." he leaned away from her focusing on her face, confusion plastered on his.

"Hm?" She watched him.

"Is there someone else? Someone you would rather create a place to return to at night?"

"No," she chuckled, "You're the only one Hiei. I mean, I had a few people back at the town," she shrugged.

"I thought the intention of dating, like we are, was to form a bond and create a home together."

"Well it is." She nodded, "I mean, a place to rest my head would be nice, but you have to look at this… from my perspective." She frowned, "Well, that might be kind of hard." He waited, still fixing her with a frown. "Hiei, when I hear settle down, I hear have children and stay stationary."

He balked at that, reeling away from her, "What?"

"That's what settle down always meant when I was growing up."

"N-no, maybe the stationary part, but not children. I don't want children right now. I just, I want somewhere safe, somewhere that's ours."

"Oh good, I don't want children," She sighed in relief.

"Ever?"

"I'm pretty adamant on not having children, Hiei."

"I'm fine with that."

She smiled, "Good. Besides, god knows what a fire demon and a shadow demon would make."

He grunted but shook his head, "No idea." He settled back down in the bed and snuggled up to her side.

Vena sighed and nodded, gently rubbing his arm, "What do you mean protecting yourself?"

Hiei jerked back awake when she spoke and looked around sharply. Once he was sure there wasn't a threat he relaxed and stared at her, "What?"

"What do you mean protecting yourself?"

"Protecting myself? From what? When?" He wasn't even fully awake yet, he was still working on getting back to a wakeful place.

"You said earlier you weren't protecting me, you were protecting yourself."

"Oh, keeping you from Mukuro," he sighed, "If I saw you two fighting, I'd be stupid, like the detective, like the oaf. I wouldn't be able to help it. Even knowing you can just, slip away, I'd still… I'd still get myself killed trying to protect you from anything threatening you."

"Huh. Alright." She nodded.

"You're special to me Vena."

"I've kind of figured that out Hiei."

"Hn."

She sighed and got off the bed, stepping a few feet away to stretch her legs, "Hiei," she frowned, "I'm not happy here."

"In Human World?" He sat up, wincing a little as his muscles pulled at wounds. Mostly, he ignored them.

"Here." She stomped on the floor of the temple.

"At Genkai's temple?"

"I don't like looking after Yukina."

Hiei's face fell. "Oh. I didn't expect to take as long as I did."

"I'm not, a babysitter Hiei," she sighed, "I don't like being stationary. Shadows are never stationary, they're always moving," she crossed her arms, "I need to move."

"So go, I won't stop you." Hiei suggested. "You know where I'll be. I can't leave her unprotected."

"She has Kazuma."

"He may be older than when I called him oaf, but I can't trust him with my only..." he frowned, "I can't trust this to him when he doesn't know what might come for her."

"And if I leave I'm going to be tempted to go to Mukuro and tell that bitch off."

"I-" He got to the edge of the bed and focused on her, his legs hanging over. "I won't stop you, but," he sighed.

She watched him, waiting.

"I know how it feels, needing to go, just to keep moving. I understand that. I've done it all my life. I've, felt it, all my life. Having you with me has been the first thing that finally made me feel like maybe I'd found what I was moving for. If you need to go, Vena, go. Just, come back to me when you're tired, or you're sick," he pushed himself up and crossed to her. "I'll wait for you to come back, and if you don't," he shrugged, "So be it." His face was dark with the worry he felt pooling in his stomach.

Her purple eyes thinned as she examined him, "Really? You'd just let me run off?" Her voice was low, like she was threatening him.

"You're not a prisoner, you're not mine to keep. I always thought we were together out of mutual enjoyment of each other's company, so if you don't… want to be here, you don't have to be."

"I like being with you Hiei, but I can't stay around here and act like a babysitter all the time. I've already helped you when you were sick, fucking idiot," she rolled her eyes, "And you went and got yourself hurt again."

"I'll heal. I always do one way or another."

"And you'll just get hurt again, or get sick for being a moron." She shook her head.

He sighed, "Then go have your fun!" He pointed to the window, "Go on Vena! Get out of here, go get sick, get hurt, whatever you want. Hell, for all I care go get pregnant! But when you need somewhere safe, someone who will help you, don't…" his voice softened and he bristled, "don't go to some stranger, come back to me. I'll wrap your wounds, and warm your blankets, and help you bathe. I'll be the safe haven you've given me in return."

Vena took a few steps forward and kissed him, before she disappeared.


	14. Chapter 14 Success

The office was crying. Well, it wasn't the entire office, just most of the female staff. They'd talk to one another, and then break out sobbing. Kurama, for his part, was ducking out of the way and trying to hide. Any time one of them caught sight of him, they'd run off and start sobbing in the bathroom. Today was a very unproductive day. That is, until Kane came running into his office and flipped off his light shutting his door tight. She had a flashlight in hand, and it glowed brightly, the light dancing off the floor. Her teeth glinted in the dim light.

Kurama jumped when he saw her and blinked a few times, "Ms. Kane?" He asked sheepishly.

"Look." She tossed the flashlight to him. Once her hand left it, the light turned off, but once it got within his range of energy, it lit up, brighter than when she had held it. He caught it before it hit his head.

"Ooh!" Kurama examined it, "You got it to work!"

Kane nodded enthusiastically and wandered over to him, her hips swaying like he was about to get pounced. "I did it alright. I did it a lot easier than I thought I could too."

"Yes, yes, you did." He smiled, "Congratulations."

"Do you like it?" She asked leaning on his desk.

"Of course I like it Kane." He grinned at her.

She reached a finger forward and ran it around the rim of the light. It tried to get brighter, but wouldn't break the bulb. "I convinced a trill weed to expend its energy on the light. It was really easy actually. It just needed to realize that I was holding the flashlight longer when it lit the bulb. It took about two seconds."

He laughed, "This is great Kane!"

"And you know trills, they can grow to any particular size you want, this one is going to fill up the case of the light, so it'll be a nice heavy object without needing extra metal. Actually I think the humans will think they're cute."

He smiled and half stood to kiss her, sitting back down heavily. "But trills are dangerous for humans to handle. We'll have to completely seal it inside so we don't get sued for killing people on accident. A lot of people are stupid enough to try things like um, well, opening the flashlight and dissecting the weed."

Kane's eyes widened in surprise, "Oh wow, that would be stupid. They'd die so quick."

He chuckled, "Yes. So, seal it good."

"Right." She grimaced.

He sighed and rubbed his face.

"What's wrong?" Kane asked flicking the lights back on.

"All the girls are upset."

"Because you're mine?"

"Yes. I've had five of them come in here and make sure I know they have an undying love for me, and then they keep crying, and crying," he patted his shoulder where it was wet.

Kane sighed heavily, "You know, there's a way to fix that."

"Is there?"

"Come celebrate with me." She grinned, "With the trill weeds we should be able to make energy packs really easily. All I'll have to do is send some plant manipulators to Human World and teach them to pack the weeds when they're young enough to learn about gathering energy slowly."

"I don't," he sighed, "I have a feeling ten more will come in here before the end of the day. Then I'm going to need a new shirt because this one is already soaked."

"Well then don't be in here, come with me. I need to crossbreed some of my trills to get a tamer variety." she offered her hand to him with a soft smile.

He watched her hand for a while, unsure if he really wanted to take it. He'd have to go through the halls and he just wanted to hide in his office.

"Tell you what, transform. They'll never know it's you."

"No, they'll all fall in love with me again."

Kane sighed and crossed the room. She kissed him firmly on the lips and folded her arms, "You're my love Kurama, I won't let them touch you if you don't want them to."

He watched her with a skeptical stare but got to his feet and straightened out his jacket.

"Come on, I have to go tell your parents what I've done." She took his hand, and the flashlight, heading for the door. "Now are you going out there as my human or my fox?"

"Your human because they'll try to trample me as a fox."

"Oh no they won't." Kane pushed the door open anyway and strode out into the hallway confidently. Kurama wasn't so quick to follow, dragging himself behind her as much as he could, whining just softly enough she only heard.

The odd thing was, when they got out to the hallway, Kurama started to hear a quiet little bell, and as they walked through the hallway, people heard the bell as well, and they ducked into rooms as Kane came by. They reached Shiori's office unmolested because despite wanting to go to Kurama, the women stayed away from Kane as a general rule and seeing them hand in hand, sealed the decisions for them.

"That was easy." Kurama commented.

"Uh huh. I've trained your humans."

"You've done what?" Shiori asked looking up from her work.

"The people here were always jumping when I was walking around the halls because they couldn't hear me, so I grow a bell plant when I'm in the halls so they know it's me. They tend to avoid me now that they know when I'm coming." Kane released Kurama at the door and crossed the room to Shiori. She set the flashlight down on the desk, head up. When she let it go, it turned off.

Shiori stared at it curiously, "What's this?"

"A flashlight."

"Well yes, clearly, but, why are you presenting it to me?"

Kurama leaned against the doorframe, grinning.

"Pick it up." Kane suggested.

Shiori took the flashlight without hesitation but squeaked and jumped, dropping it, when it turned on at her touch. It turned off when she let it go. "Oh my! What… is it a touch screen or something?"

"No, I gutted the flashlight in the lab actually."

"Oh, so what's in it?" Shiori started trying to untwist the top.

"It's a root." Kane took it from her before she could get the top off.

"No, don't touch it," Kurama was at the desk in an instant and sighed in relief, "Thank god."

"Don't be so dramatic." Kane unscrewed the top and pulled it up so the root hung exposed to the air. She smiled.

"I love my Mother! If she died, I don't know what I'd do."

"She wasn't going to die, I wouldn't let it do that. I grew this little guy. He listens to me." Kane chided.

"What is it?" Shiori folded her hands on the desk in front of her staring in shock.

"It's called a trill weed. They consume energy by touching demons and grow whenever they do, usually. When they reach a certain size, compared to their environment conditions, they do stop growing, but not consuming."

"They're very dangerous to humans."

Kane sighed, "Yes, I suppose they are, but honestly, I didn't expect humans would actually try to open up the container and touch it." Kane commented shaking the case at her.

"They're curious," Kurama went to touch the root but stopped himself, "Let's not try that, I like this body."

Kane laughed, "Yeah, let's not." She slipped it back into the container and screwed the lid tight.

"Is there a way to turn off the light while you touch it?" Shiori asked skeptically. "A lot of dogs and pets like to chase flashlight light, and it could be nice not to blind someone with it when you pick it up."

"With humans it'd be difficult considering most can't control their energy whatsoever, though I'm sure demons could probably accomplish it to a point."

"Sure," Kane flicked the light on and off with her energy just holding it as she was. "But no, I haven't made an area on the case non-conductive. I suppose, if you were wearing gloves you might not turn it on though. Human energy is too varied to make something stable. However, this is never going to need the batteries replaced, and it will always light up as long as the bulb is good. You can change the bulb in these things surprisingly easily too."

"Kane did a fantastic job." Kurama touched her back gently.

"And these can be mass-produced?"

"With our company in Demon World handling the plants and casing, and your company handling the assembly and product marketing, yes."

"What conditions does the trill weed need?" Shiori asked, skeptical about the name.

"It will go dormant if conditions are uncooperative for it. All it needs to live is energy. It might be a little bit sleepy if it's left alone for a long time though, might not wake up right away and turn on. It might take a couple minutes."

Kurama took the flashlight, but manipulated his energy so it wouldn't light up, "It's really engenius. I don't know why I didn't think of this."

"Well you're managment, not science." Kane patted his shoulder. "Actually, let's show her what we can really do with it." Kane grinned.

"Hey, I was a scientist." Kurama scolded, shaking the light at her.

Kane took it from him and set it across the room. "We can turn it on from here." She ignored Kurama's comment.

"You can?"

"We can, who wants to go first?" Kurama asked, smirking at Kane.

"She's not going to know the difference between either one of us turning it on. We can also determine how light it gets by how much energy we give it." Kane demonstrated for Shiori making the light throb.

Kurama smiled at Shiori and folded his arms behind his back, watching the bulb flicker.

"Wow. But a human can't do that."

"Right, but given practice, a human could learn to do that. It could help humans train their energy awareness to use these flashlights as a training device." Kane focused on Shiori letting go of the light.

When she stopped turning it on with her energy, Kurama lit it up to a full beam and made it flicker every few seconds, "This is a great exercise thing for demons too actually."

"For control, yes. Honestly my one concern is that it might get greedy. It might steal too much energy from a human and make them faint."

"Then you just don't give it energy for awhile."

"No, because if it makes a human faint, we'll be out a lot of sales." Shiori commented. "I'd like you to produce ten as a test run, as they would be for full production, and we'll give them to people in the office and see how it goes."

"How about instead of, 'there's a plant inside' we say there's a energy source inside that should not be touched under any circumstances due to," he shrugged.

"It'll be sealed up completely. The only part of the flashlight that can come apart will be the bulb area."

"Good. I really don't want the girls coming to me crying anymore."

"Crying?" Shiori asked skeptically. "What have you done this time Shuichi?"

"Eh, it might not have been his fault." Kane scratched her neck as she retrieved the light.

"Well, um. Kane and I are courting as foxes and we give each other tasks. One of my tasks was to tell all the girls I was taken… Needless to say they're all very upset."

"Oh, I see. I'll have Taki search for applicants." Shiori rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"I really don't want anymore girls rubbing snot on my shirt." He sighed and found the doorframe again.

"No, of course not." Shiori sighed, "I just, I know they'll probably be jumping ship soon since you admitted you're taken."

"I'm sorry Mother. I didn't mean to-"

"No no, it's alright." She smiled, "I'm very happy that you two are together. You fit well together. She's bringing out that playful nature you always hid."

"That's because a Youko's playful nature can go from playful to a few other things very quickly," he chuckled nervously.

"Yes, well, whatever the reason I'm glad to see you so happy." She patted Kurama's shoulder. "I'm going to get your father." she kissed his cheek and rounded the corner. Moments later she came back with Hatanaka.

They spent the next half-hour discussing production of the product and how to handle the trial run, who would be part of it, who would not. Kane's input was taken, then she was dismissed with Kurama so Shiori and Hatanaka could talk about it further. Kane kept her prototype.

"You know, this means I'll have to go back to Demon World to get that set up."

He nodded, "Yes." He opened his office door.

"I'll head back to the lab and call them, see how much of it I can get done over the phone. Jerry should be able to understand what I did with the trill weed and teach the others." Kane followed him inside.

"Mm," Kurama nodded and flicked the lights off, closing the door, "I actually like it better in here with the lights off."

Kane grinned and wrapped her arms around him, holding him tight. "You know, if you don't want people walking into your office, we could do it in here and let one of them catch us."

"What if we just made out really passionately?" Kurama rubbed her back, squeezing her back.

"I can accept that." Kane locked faces with him. Kurama let them kiss standing up before he dragged Kane over to his chair and sat down, pulling her up into his lap.

Kane grinned and swished her tail between his legs, wiggling it in as they kissed. She pulled back briefly to try to say something, but he caught her neck and pulled her back down kissing her. Kane shut off the flashlight.

Kurama heard the door open with a quiet, "Shuichi? Are you- Oh my god!" The girl yelped loudly and the door slammed shut.

Kane chuckled and pulled back, "That's going to get around."

He laughed, "Good. They'll stop coming into my office."

Kane wrapped her tail around his leg and nipped at his lip. "You're a bad boy Shuichi Minamino."

"I know," he smirked and kissed her briefly, "It's so good being bad."

She snickered and slipped off the complaining chair. "Well, I have work I need to do and I don't doubt for a second that you've got some too."

"I have work to do alright." He nodded, getting up, "In the bathroom."

"Oh, god, at work? Really?"

He laughed, "Well, no. Not… not really. If I can help it."

Kane chuckled, "Well, if you can't, come find my lab." she swished out of the room with a flick of the light, bringing him back into the world of the working.


	15. Chapter 15 In Your Arms

It'd be a few months since Hiei had last seen Vena. He'd expected her back quickly, but was sorely disappointed. She didn't show up the night she left, she didn't show up at all. He eventually healed on his own, but didn't leave Yukina's to run after her.

It was about five months into Yukina's pregnancy when Hiei lay on the bed Vena had claimed for the two of them. He missed her dearly. It felt like she'd stripped him of his greatest weapon, like the dragon was gone, but this, this was deeper, more a part of him than the dragon ever had been. He'd retreated to their bed to feel close to her. It was a quiet afternoon, and he'd only had minimal threats so far. That was when a very familiar figure came falling through the window. He caught her before she hit the floor and scooped her into his arms.

"Vena?" Hiei cradled her against his chest, confused. She felt so weak, like something had sapped her energy from her, but what? She was also unusually warm, human warm, like she'd been sitting out in the sun too long, way too long for a demon of her type. She was covered in sweat and panting.

"Hiei," she whined, grabbing his cloak in a deathgrip.

Hiei took her to the shower. He hopped in with their clothes on and turned it on just warming the water a little before it hit them, trying to cool her skin off. He just warmed it enough that it wouldn't sting her from the rapid change. The cooler her skin became, the cooler he let the water sink.

Eventually Vena attempted to scramble out of the tub, jerking to life to try and get away from him and the cold water, "What the hell?" She exclaimed.

"You were too hot. I needed to cool you off," Hiei explained stepping out of the spray with her. He sheltered her from the water with his back, but didn't put her down.

"I feel like shit," she murmured, leaning back against him, the life draining back out just as quickly as it'd sparked.

Hiei fed her energy and slipped her back under the spray of the water, turning back around again. "Vena, stay with me." He bounced her a little bit.

"Hiei," she squirmed trying to get to him, trying to see his face, "Hiei, will you forgive me?"

"For what?" It was good to have her back, he couldn't imagine what she might have done wrong.

"For leaving you like that."

He chuckled, "You needed time." He kissed her cheek softly and pulled her up against his chest in the best he could do as a hug.

She sighed and went back to leaning heavily against him.

"Is this helping?" he asked after a couple minutes.

"I'm not really sure." She murmured quietly.

"Then let's get out of here." He propped her up against his shoulder and turned off the water, getting out of it. He wrapped her up in a towel with some effort, and tucked a towel around her head before putting one in her lap and heading to their bedroom.

When they got there, he lay her gently on the bed. Without much searching, he pulled out a change of clothes and set them beside her before taking the third towel from her, and starting to dry himself off, stripping off his wet things.

"I talked to Mukuro."

"Oh," Hiei frowned. He turned his back on her when he dried off his torso and hair. He put on a tank top before dropping his pants, very briefly, to switch into dry ones. He couldn't risk raising her temperature by ambient heat from drying his clothes like he usually did.

"I'm hurt Hiei."

"What? You weren't bleeding." He focused on her quickly and started tugging at the towels to find the injury.

"I wrapped it pretty good. My old town captured me and put me on a bright display."

"Fucking ass-hats." Hiei growled unwrapping her from the towel. He pulled her shirt off to look for the bandages. Lo and behold, her side was wrapped in a thick layer of bandages.

"I'll get Yukina," Hiei stated quickly when he saw the size of the area bandaged.

"No, she's pregnant! We can't do that Hiei."

"She'll be fine." Hiei sighed and put a soft hand over her wounded area. "You need to have this healed."

"She has to feed her baby goddamnit Hiei!"

"She will be! I'll… I'll supplement her energy, keep her strong." He so did not want to do that. He didn't want to do it as much as he didn't want Yukina touching him.

"I don't like it."

"But you're hurt!" He exclaimed. If he were a dog his hackles would've been up. "I don't give a rat's balls what reservations you have! I'm getting you better."

"Hiei!" Vena exclaimed, pushing herself up, "Really? Would you really do that to her?"

"There's no risk in this Vena. She was just healing that stupid oaf of hers yesterday."

Vena slid back down onto the bed and glared at him, but didn't comment.

Hiei sighed and rubbed his temple, "Look, I don't like seeing you hurt Vena, and I know that I can help Yukina if she has energy trouble. That's half the reason I'm here. I won't lose her just because… because I can't tell her. I won't."

"I'm sick Hiei, I'm hurt," she sighed, "I'm an absolute mess and I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry," he tried to find something else to look at aside from her injuries. He saw the towel and started trying to dry her long hair. It wasn't really working. He put the other towel on her shoulders and dried the ends of her hair up, slowly and carefully. He kept the heat away from her.

"But I feel terrible for what I did!" She exclaimed, "Hiei, I'm so sorry for what I did," Tears welled up in her eyes.

"The only way you could've done something you would need to apologize for is if you went out and screwed someone." He kissed her softly on the lips.

"I don't remember screwing someone."

"Good, you have nothing to apologize for." He chuckled and rubbed her back. "Get your shirt on, and I'll go see if I can get Yukina in here."

Vena did so mostly awkwardly and ended up just covering up her breasts.

Hiei pulled her shirt down the rest of the way for her and kissed her again, "I'm glad you're back. Let's get you healed." He left, jogging down the halls. When he finally found Yukina and Kuwabara, they were settled in watching a movie. He felt his anxiety rise tenfold when he stepped in and Kuwabara looked up at him.

"Hey Hiei."

He swallowed and nodded to the man, "Vena's hurt."

Yukina looked up at him now, "Oh? What happened?"

"I'm not sure, but she's sick and hurt. Can you…?"

"Of course." Yukina pushed herself up with Kuwabara's help and the man paused the movie to follow them. "How is she hurt?"

"I didn't unbandaged it, I figured that could wait."

"Yes, I suppose," Yukina stretched a little as she walked, but not much. Her belly protruded already enough that Hiei felt uncomfortable being close, and Kuwabara supported her with an arm for her to use as they walked. "Is it a serious injury? I can't spend much energy."

"I can help with that," Hiei suggested.

"What? Oh, you mean, give me energy?" Yukina entered the room where Vena sat on the edge of the bed, half-wrapped in a towel. "Hello Vena, Hiei said you're hurt?"

Vena grunted and nodded, "Twins?" she asked softly.

Yukina nodded. "Yes, I'm very happy." She came over to Vena and sat down beside her. "Where are you hurt?"

Vena lifted up her shirt to show her the injury.

"Oh! That's a pretty large area. What type of injury is it?" Yukina asked reaching to touch it.

"Sort of a gash."

"Alright, I'm going to see what I can do. Hiei, if you would please," She requested holding out her hand to him.

Hiei took a deep breath, holding it, then crossed the room and took Yukina's hand feeding her energy. Yukina healed Vena quickly and smiled when she finished, "There, all done. Unfortunately you've got your autoimmune system going haywire for some reason, but I can't cure sick. I can just heal injuries." Yukina used Hiei's help to pull herself up and crossed to Kuwabara, smiling brightly as she leaned into his side.

"Thank you Yukina."

"Of course. Oh, and uh, Hiei, thank you for the energy. It was plenty."

"Tell me if you need more."

"I will," She agreed. The two of them left as quickly as they'd come.

Vena glanced at Hiei and smiled, offering her hand to him.

Hiei took it and sat in Yukina's spot. "Feeling a little better?"

"Yeah." She nodded and scooted closer to him, "I'm sorry Hiei."

"If you say that again I'll cut out your vocal box and shove it down your throat."

"You wouldn't."

He sighed, "But it's a good threat."

"Not really when I know you won't do it."

"Threats aren't meant to be done." He kissed her lips and pulled her up onto the bed pulling her into his arms. "This," he sighed and pressed his face against her nest of hair, "This is nice."

Vena nodded and nuzzled close, "I missed you."

He smiled, "Why?" It seemed silly to miss someone waiting for you.

"I just did. I was doing okay but I really just wanted to come back."

"You did come back."

"I did." She agreed, "But I missed you."

"I- I did too." It felt like a lump in his throat, like somehow he said everything backwards despite knowing exactly what he should have said.

Vena sighed, "When I talked to Mukuro she didn't fight me."

That surprised him. He leaned back to see if she was lying, watching her face and her eyes. Once satisfied, he lay back down again, his head propped up on an arm to stare over her.

"She told me about you Hiei."

Hiei rolled his eyes, "Nasty witch. Yeah? What'd she say?" This couldn't be good. Whatever Mukuro had to say to Vena was bound to be something to drive a wedge between them, but, Vena was here. Vena had missed him. He wondered quietly if maybe Mukuro had come out of her horny phase and was actually going to be his friend again.

"She told me about you, just, a little about your past."

Nope, not a friend, definitely not a friend. "Yeah?"

"And about Yukina. You told me once you were Koorime, but you rejected it afterwards, but I know now."

He sighed heavily and sat up, kicking his feet over the side of the bed. He wanted to run, he wanted to escape this, but, Vena was not a woman he wanted to run from. "Yeah?" he prompted again. What more could he do? He felt weak, useless, like all of this was out of his control. She already knew, there was nothing he could do now.

She nodded.

"Don't tell Yukina, not right now anyway. Maybe after the babies, after she might not need my energy, but..." he sighed.

"I won't." She murmured, closing her eyes, settling down into the bed.

"Why did you seek her out? Why Mukuro?"

"I wanted to give her a piece of my mind Hiei."

"Oh." Apparently that had gone the other way. He wasn't sure how it happened, but it was what it was. He was nervous about what else Mukuro might have told her.

She sighed and took a few deep breaths, rolling onto her side to nuzzle into the pillow better.

"You must be tired. I understand if you want me to sleep somewhere else." Who knows what she thought of him now. After learning all those things, after confirming whatever he'd confirmed.

"No, I'd like you to stay, but you're really warm."

That was a start, but a start towards what? "What, uh, what did she say?"

"Hm?" Vena frowned.

"Mukuro, what else did she tell you?"

She shook her head, "I'll tell you when I'm better Hiei, I can't right now."

Hiei reached back and warmed the blanket for her. "Okay."

Vena shifted the blanket enough to cover her legs, but not her torso, "Is it really a smart idea to be warming up a blanket for me?" She asked softly.

"Why? You seemed cold."

"I'm a shadow demon and I just overheated," she reminded him quietly, reaching out a hand for his.

Hiei took her hand and slipped closer to her again, "Yeah, well, it happens."

She sighed, "I'm going to stay until you're ready to leave Hiei. I won't do that again." She squeezed his hand and took his entire arm, holding it close to her chest, "I'm sorry again, but I'm happy to be home."

"I told you not to say that," Hiei grabbed her throat, his nails digging into her flesh just slightly, just enough to threaten, not cutting or hurting her.

Vena smacked him upside the head with the palm of her hand, "I know you won't do it Hiei."

He rubbed his head pulling away from her.

"So don't act like you will," she kept his arm in place, "I'm happy to be with you and that's what counts."

"You're here, that's all that matters." Hiei wrestled his arm away from her and pulled her up against his chest flipping her over in the process so her back was to his chest and they were both pointed towards the door.

"If I overheat I blame you," she commented, leaning up to kiss him.

"Mm, if you overheat I'll cool you off again." He forced his body temperature to drop and chill until it was below hers, keeping his core temperature high for his demon blood, but his skin temperature down. "Can I kill that town I found you in?" he asked while yawning, hoping maybe she'd think it was cute enough to just say yes.

She chuckled, "I'd rather you not, but do as you wish."

Hiei grinned, "I wish to kill them slowly, maybe take a page from Kurama's book and skin them alive before making them eat their testicles and breasts."

"Not all of them did it you know," She explained, "Just the ones who were the most afraid. Some other jackass decided it was their town so they captured me to keep him happy."

"It's a pathetic town, constantly changing hands like that. They don't deserve mercy for what they did."

"Just don't kill the children."

"So you want me to leave the people least able to care for themselves? The ones most likely to come back for vengeance?"

"Hiei, they're not going to come after me."

"Give me the names of those idiots who did this to you and I'll only kill them." He kissed her cheek.

She rattled off a few hard to pronounce names and chuckled, "Feel free to do whatever."

"I will," he nuzzled the back of her head and sighed, "Once Yukina's not pregnant."

"How long will she be pregnant for?"

"I don't know. It's not like I was sentient of time for that part of my life."

"That would be gross."

"Day twelve in this dark, reddish, murky glow. I am beginning to think it feeds me when I kick it."

She laughed hard and smacked his arm, "Ew, that's disgusting."

"Well don't you remember some of that? I mean, near the end, after your sentience was formed."

"I remember a few small things but I never really paid attention. I was just, resting. You know, shadow demons have their babies in complete darkness."

"How would you find that?"

"Hm?" She frowned, "Complete darkness?"

"Yeah."

"Find a cave, or have other shadow demons help you make a very dark place. It's supposed to be a ritual of sorts so you don't know what the baby looks like until you really go out into day."

"Do you respect that ritual?"

Vena nodded, "Yeah. My mother did it, and just about every other woman I know who's a shadow demon. Besides, being in complete darkness feels good."

"How does it feel?" Hiei asked softly, his mind drifting.

"I'd imagine it feels like when you lay in a fire. It's relaxing, and makes you feel empowered at the same time."

Laying in a fire was nerve wracking for him. He never knew for sure if it would burn or not, if it would sting. He'd been hurt by fire before, when he was younger, and when the Jagan had just been put in, but he could control his body temperature so much better now that he could stop it from hurting him too, as long as he wasn't cold. He didn't correct her. He would rather listen to her talk and explore her thoughts of him than correct her.

"But most shadow demons can see in complete darkness, so it's not any harder, it might be for the shadow demons who aren't purely shadow demon though."

"If the point of the ritual is to not see the baby before entering light, and shadow demons can see in darkness, then what's the point?"

"Our eyes are too sensitive for bright lights when we're newborns. We'd go blind if we were born in daylight."

"Oh."

"So it helps strengthen our eyes so we can see in the dark and keeps us from going blind. I remember when I was born I couldn't see all that well, just sort of blocks of greys. The longer I was in the dark the better I could see and eventually I could see my mother perfectly. Though in the darkness there isn't any real color, so everything looks grey. That's part of the ritual, you don't know what your baby looks like as far as hair color and stuff."

"Hn."

"So you can bet my mother was really surprised when she came into the daylight with a baby who had bright red hair. But my father had red hair too, so," she shrugged, "But my mother had white hair."

He chuckled for her, but the thoughts of parents made him feel the weight of loss he usually just experienced watching the others with theirs.

"And one of my brother's had pink hair," she laughed.

"Pink? How did that happen?"

"I dunno," she chuckled. "He has a lot of red and white hair all over his head. If you pluck out a single strand, it's red, or white, but they're so fine that when you see them together, they're pink."

"Oh." He took a deep breath of her scent, trying to memorize it again. He'd been so wrong. He'd thought she smelled like jasmine, but it was more like lilacs, or cinnamon. He really sucked at naming scents.

"Uh huh. My family is weird," she shook her head.

"They don't sound weird." Maybe he wasn't a good judge of that either.

She shifted enough to kiss his jaw and nodded, "I'll feel better once the sun goes down."

Hiei let her go and pulled the blinds so the room was dropped into darkness.

She made a noise of delight and her energy rose a few notches as she became more comfortable, "Thank you."

"Is there anything else you need?" He stood at the foot of the bed waiting for her response.

"You."

He chuckled and crawled back into his spot holding her against his chilled chest.


	16. Chapter 16 And So We Are

When Kurama finally made entrance into his humble home, it was with Kane on his metaphoric tail and more tear stains and snot stains on his shirt than he cared to count. The little stunt with Kane had just upset them even more and in the end he was snappy and basically ran home to get away from it all. He made his way over to the couch and collapsed into a heap.

"I'm sorry," Kane toed off her shoes and set the flashlight aside on the entrance table, bulb down. "I shouldn't have requested that. I should've picked something else."

"No, it's fine."

"It doesn't seem fine." Kane shook herself out of the lab coat and changed her clothes with a thought getting into something more comfortable, and less human.

"Kane," he sighed, "It's going to be fine."

She sat beside him and took his hand in hers, squeezing it softly.

Kurama squeezed her hand and smiled, "Thank you."

"I still have to go to Demon World."

"We can go together."

She brightened up, "You'll come with me?"

He nodded, "But first you have to do something for me."

"That's fine. I was going to ask you to come with me to meet my family. I'd like you to know them."

"I'd like to meet them too, I was going to ask that of you, but I have something else first," he smirked. This was going to be entertaining.

"Oh yeah? and what's that?"

"I want you to make me moan somehow."

Kane blinked a few times, tipped her head, and then stood going over to the phone. She dialed in a number and held it up to her face.

"What are you doing?"

She put a finger to her lip, smirking. "Yes hello," she greeted, turning down the phone volume. Kurama could barely hear who she called. It was some sort of restaurant though. "Yes, I'd like a number four with extra- yup, that's it exactly. Two of them." She nodded a few times and repeated the cost back to the person, then hung up after telling them the address for delivery.

Kurama raised an eyebrow at her, "What're you doing?"

"Well your mother took me out to this place um, well, actually it was while we were shopping together. They do delivery and they can't deny me once they get to the door." Kane grinned mischievously. "Trust me, you're going to love it."

"Alright then." He smiled.

When the delivery man arrived Kurama understood why Kane said he would love it. She'd bought a tofu dish, with extra tofu. He could smell what it was through the door, and he already wanted to moan at just the scent. When she brought one of the bowls over to him, and took the other for herself, it was hard to resist eating without proper utensils.

"You're a naughty fox," he scolded playfully, "We're both going to be walking around here like we're drunk."

"There's no problem being drunk." Kane replied gently. "You wanted to moan, well, this is the best way to assure you're going to moan."

That wasn't true, but he smirked and tested the dish. Maybe it was true because the minute the tofu touched his tongue he moaned in delight and started scarfing it down.

Kane didn't tease him, she ate and moaned too, but savored the dish longer than him.

The two didn't speak again until they were done eating. By that time, they were both in a silent lull of pleasure. Kane scooped up their dishes and delivered them to the trash, silverware in the sink, then came back with water for both of them.

Kurama took his water and smiled up at her, "That was awesome," he grinned, "So, what were we talking about?" He was attempting to readjust his brain from the tofu but it wasn't going to work.

"Making you moan." She giggled.

"Right." He nodded, "Uh, weren't we talking about Demon World?"

"Oh, right. I wanted you to meet Jinx."

"And I wanted to meet him. How about we take a trip to Demon World soon?"

"How soon is soon for you?"

"How about the week after next week? I can take a couple of weeks off to spend time with you."

"Okay. That sounds good. I have to get production ready in Demon World though. Maybe I should go do that now and you can meet me there."

He frowned, "Go to Demon World now?"

"Just me, not you."

"I don't know if I can handle two weeks without you," he admitted.

"Oh, I suppose that could be hard, yeah, you're right."

"I could handle a week." He offered.

"I might want to postpone it for longer so I don't have to be in Demon World alone for so long."

"Yeah, that'd be good." He nodded.

"Okay, how about this, I'll go on Tuesday next week."

"That'd be good." He smiled, "Alright."

"Alright," She lay across his lap and smiled up towards him.

He pet her hair and smiled lazily down at her, "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too."

He kissed her and leaned down to nuzzle into her, happy.

Kane leaned up to meet him halfway and the next hour was lost as they kissed.

Hiei rolled over from his wonderful slumber to find a cool body. He sighed and began to drift off again before he realized that he was naked, and so was the woman beside him. It took point five seconds for his brain to rewire and he remembered what he had done.

Sitting up, he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and gazed down at the woman beside him. Her bangs were in her face again. He brushed them aside and popped up to go to the bathroom. He got out the door, and just out the door, when he began to feel his heart flutter and race. He'd just been in bed with a woman. A woman, of all the ideas he'd had about life, he never thought a woman would feel like that.

But it was more than that, she wasn't near him. He gripped his chest and leaned against the wall. What if something was happening to her? What if he left, and someone came and took her away? She could be gone, she could be in trouble. He had left her alone in a room without anyone there to protect her, and she was weak, and sick recently. It wasn't that recently, a week or two ago, but she was recovering. He raced back into the bedroom, but once he crossed the threshold, his heart stilled, and settled.

She was okay. There was nothing wrong with her. Of course there was nothing wrong with her, why would there be something wrong with her? She was good at taking care of herself. She wasn't just capable of it, but good at it. Why had he freaked out? He still had to pee, but he couldn't bring himself to cross that threshold again.

Vena propped herself up after a moment and blinked awake, "Why are you all the way over there?" she asked softly.

"I have to piss." He put his thumb out the door.

"Okay, go pee."

"I-uh." He frowned, what was he doing just standing here? He had to go, so he had to go. He forced himself back over the threshold but his heart beat wildly again and his stomach dropped to his knees. He had to catch himself on the entryway or he would've fallen over. As it was, he was nearly brought to his knees. She was going to die if he left her side. She was going to die! The thought made him whimper and search her out with his eyes. He couldn't see her around the door frame. He struggled back inside the room, and once she was in sight, and there was no danger available, he calmed.

"Are you okay?"

Hiei shook his head, "Come here." He held out his hand to her.

Vena got herself up, dragging a sheet along with her as she made her way over to him, "Hm?"

He took her hand and marched with her to the bathroom. Once he'd finished his business, they retreated back to the room and crawled back into bed. "Why can't I leave the room without thinking something horrible is happening to you?"

"I don't know."

"But you seduced me! You should know what that was going to do to me!"

"Um, no?" She frowned, "I don't know what it did to you."

"Well why not! Apparently it did something because I can't leave the room without thinking someone is going to kill you."

"I don't know Hiei!"

Hiei sighed heavily and shook his head, "Well I don't know either."

She sighed and rested her head against his chest, "I just know I'm happy right here."

"Good because for the foreseeable future, I can't leave your side."

"I'm fine with that."

Hiei frowned, it seemed so odd to think that she was going to stay with him when he'd asked her to settle down, and she'd denied him such a short time ago.

She glanced up at him and smiled, patting his chest, "Breakfast?"

He sighed and nodded, "Fine, since apparently I can't go anywhere on my own, I suppose I'll have to come with you."

Vena popped up and started getting dressed, throwing new pants at him, "How are you?"

"Aside from frustrated that I can't even go piss without you being close? Fine."

She chuckled, "I'm a little stiff myself, but I'm also fine." She grabbed his hand when he got his pants on and dragged him out of the room. Hiei dragged her back into it, donned his shirt and cloak, then followed her out of the room as he adjusted his scarf.

"If you tell the oaf we screwed I'm going to kill you and see what affect that has on my newest issue."

"I don't think I need to tell him."

"You weren't that loud."

"So you don't remember me smacking the wall so hard it rattled?"

"They're on the other side of the temple. We could've been training."

"So you'd really kill me? I don't believe you."

"I don't care if you don't believe me, that's what I'm doing and I will hold myself to that promise."

"You tempt me so Hiei."

Hiei kissed her temple, "Yeah, but you're not an impulsive teenager."

"You never know." She shrugged.

"How old are you?"

Vena paused and stared at him, "Uuh," she frowned, "One hundred and something?"

"And something? How exact."

"Uh, one hundred twenty eight?"

"Oh."

"Would you really kill me?" She asked skeptically.

He shook his head.

"Good!" She sped ahead, "Oh Kazuma!" She looked back at Hiei, grinning.

Hiei grabbed her arm and yanked her back hard. "Don't you even dare!" he growled as viciously as he could. It wasn't much. Too much of his panic came out.

She laughed, "I dare, just to get a rise out of you."

He sighed and rolled his eyes.

Vena kissed him and got out of his grasp, "Do we have any breakfast?" She called out as she made her way to the kitchen.

"Yeah, come get it!" Kuwabara called back.

Vena was out of Hiei's sight in a few seconds as she hurried to the kitchen.

"Vena!" Hiei gasped once she was out of sight and fell forward to his knees grasping his chest. He felt like he was suffocating the farther away she got, and he couldn't collect his breath despite trying.

Vena was a few moments before she reappeared with a pancake in hand, "Hm?"

He relaxed and sat back on his heels staring up at her. "Don't- don't do that."

"Alright, come get breakfast." She threatened to dart off, but stayed in sight.

Hiei followed after her, though it took a while. He had to collect his legs again, and once they were beneath him, actually decide she was worth following. Knowing he needed to be in sight of her, she'd ducked around a corner, and then proceeded to the kitchen to get a pancake before coming back. He sighed and shuffled forward.

She sat down at the table and gestured for him, "I'm starving, come on. What're we doing today?"

Hiei stiffened and stared at Yukina, who was bathing her pancakes in syrup and powdered sugar like any responsible adult. He couldn't keep protecting her if Vena didn't agree to stick around.

Vena chuckled and grinned at the woman, "How are you Yukina."

"Hungry. How are you?"

"I'm stiff, but alright." She offered as she started copying what Yukina was doing.

"Stiff? Why are you stiff?"

Vena pointed at Hiei and tried her pancakes, stuffing her mouth.

"What did Hiei do to make you stiff."

Hiei glared at her, but came over to the table finally and served himself.

"Well, we were practicing something."

"Oh, you were training?" Yukina smiled.

"Not really."

"Yukina, why don't you leave them some privacy?" Kuwabara suggested softly.

"Oh! Am I prying into something I shouldn't?"

"No, it's fine." Vena waved her off.

Kuwabara swallowed nervously and glanced at Hiei, who glared at Vena.

"What?" She smirked, taking a few more bites of her pancake.

"So why did you scream Hiei?" Kuwabara asked changing topics quickly once he had the option.

"Nothing."

"That was not nothing. I haven't heard a scream like that from you since… well, actually I don't think I've ever heard you scream like that."

"Well, I can tell you why," Vena offered.

"We..." Hiei swallowed down a bite of pancake, "We had an unforeseen consequence to some of our actions, last night."

"We did it." Vena offered.

Yukina gasped and jerked covering her mouth.

Vena laughed and continued eating.

Hiei rolled his eyes, "Now I don't seem to be able to be out of sight of her without..."

"Without what?" Yukina pressed.

"Without panicking?" Kuwabara assumed.

Hiei nodded.

"I dunno why, I didn't do anything like that to him," Vena said around a mouthful.

"Didn't do anything like what?" Kuwabara questioned.

"Anything that'd make him panic like this."

"You're uh, you're a fire demon right Hiei?" Kuwabara asked quietly. "I mean, I know you control fire and all that, but you actually are like, a fire demon, you're not like a Jagan demon or something odd like that?"

"Why?"

"Well, when Genkai couldn't teach Yusuke about some of the demon kinds, I learned it. She said once that some types of demons mate for life once they've uh, you know, gone through the ancient dance."

"I don't think shadow demons mate for life," Vena frowned, "I'd hope not, or I was mated a long time ago."

"I don't know, but I know that fire demons were one of them because she was always thinking you'd get stuck with Mukuro."

Hiei grimaced. "You mean that old coot thought about me doing that with someone else?"

"She was hoping all of us would have kids some day Hiei, or at least love lives."

"Sorry, I guess I mated us." Vena murmured.

Hiei rubbed his temple. "Well shit."

"Hey, at least we like each other, right?" Vena smiled.

"Yeah." Hiei agreed bluntly.

Vena smiled wider and nodded, "I'm glad it was you Hiei."

"Hn." He had a lot to process. He couldn't answer that right away. If he had been taken advantage of by anyone growing up, he would have been bonded for life to some ass-hat who he hated, and probably would've killed, killing himself. The thought made him shiver.

"When is the baby due?" Vena asked Yukina curiously.

"Three months still."

"Ah, alright. Are the babies well?"

Yukina smiled and nodded happily, "Very well, thank you."

"You're welcome. Do you think, uh, they'll be mostly demon or more human?" She asked curiously.

"Well I think one of them will be half-demon half-human and the other will just be Koorime."

"That makes sense." Vena nodded.

Hiei couldn't eat. He stared at the plate he'd begrudgingly made and couldn't actually stomach the idea of eating any of it. He hadn't even put that much on his plate, but still, he just couldn't do it. His stomach was screaming at him that he'd vomit if he did and he wasn't in the habit of ignoring those ideas.

The ones who did eat continued the meal in comfortable silence. When Vena was done she grabbed Hiei's arm and hauled him out of the kitchen, taking him outside so they could get some fresh air, "Hey, you alright?"

"What?" Hiei pulled his arm free from her.

"Are you alright?"

"Huh? Uh, yeah, fine." He really didn't want to answer that.

She sighed, "You know I can help you."

"What's there to help?" Hiei backed up. "Wait there, I want to see if I can just keep you in sight and leave your side."

She rolled her eyes but nodded and stood in place.

When he was about the distance that the room had been wide, a shiver shot down his spine and shook his head. He couldn't even just keep her in sight. He had to be close to her. Vena came to his side and shook her head.

"If we bonded Hiei, it might make it easier."

"Easier? How could it be easier if we had more of a connection?" Hiei circled around her and stepped back on occasion to see if maybe he could decide how large of an area he had.

"Because I'd always be with you."

"But I'll always be with you anyway right now."

"But I'd be like, bonded to you." She sighed, "It'd make it permanent for me."

Hiei shifted his weight back and forth, then jumped in an arch over her testing his upward boundaries. He stepped closer to her when he overshot it a little bit, and sighed, "Fine."

"Yeah?" She offered her hand to him.

Hiei took her hand, "Sure. I don't see why I should say no."

Vena chuckled and lead him off to their bedroom, "Alright then."

"Wait," He dug his feet in, "What're we heading that way for?"

"To bond Hiei. You don't want to be out in the open. We basically mix our energies together."

He followed her slowly, "What does that mean?"

"Well, we're going to mix our energy together, literally, and we'll get a mark of sorts. But it's kind of a strange experience, so we should be indoors, somewhere safe."

"Oh. Okay."

She nodded and lead him into their bedroom, closing the door, "You sure?"

"If I wasn't sure I wouldn't have been seduced last night." He had to believe that. It wasn't true, but he wanted to believe that of himself.

Vena took his hands and rose his energy, "Alright."

Hiei followed suit, his pulse racing to feel her energy clash with his. What if this didn't work? What if they just blew the place up?

Vena started weaving their energy together delicately, "We're fine."

Hiei shut his eyes so he couldn't see the destruction, and let his energy continue to crawl stronger, breathing deep to keep his thoughts calm.

Eventually Vena's energy was lightly woven with his, and she started to tighten it, "Hiei, are you okay?"

Hiei nodded, mimicing what she was doing still.

Vena pulled her energy with his tightly, eyes widening as their energy started to meld together. Hiei continued to follow her direction and sighed feeling his mind slow to match hers and his heart settle back into his chest.

Their energy picked up briefly, swirling around them before settling down, dropping like a rock. When Vena raised her energy, it wasn't her signature, it was theirs. She leaned in kissing him on the lips.

Hiei leaned back, curiously raising his own energy. He frowned. "It feels..." He flexed the hand of his dragon.

"It feels?"

"Different. New."

"Well, we did just tie our energy together." She offered, "Come on," she tugged on his hand, dragging him towards the bed.

Hiei followed her trying to decide if she was tired or wanted to seduce him again. He yawned.

She pulled them both onto the bed and snuggled up to him, "Thank you Hiei."

Hiei nodded and wrapped an arm around her. "This is fine."

She kissed him and nuzzled into him, "Good, because I'm tired."

He kissed her back. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." She laughed, "It's only morning, but I can use a nap."

He nodded and rubbed her back. "Go to sleep."'

It wasn't much longer before the two of them both fell asleep together, wandering into the world of dreams hand in hand. For the first time in five months, Hiei didn't worry about Yukina as his last thought before finding rest.


	17. Chapter 17 A Type of Family

Kurama sighed as he made his way through the portal. He could feel the excitement in his gut as he shifted into his demon form once he was in the familiar land. He took a moment to gather his surroundings before he bolted.

An hour passed and he finally made his way into a large demon city. He spotted the name of the building quickly with his demon vision, and made his way into the building. Inside was a desk with a secretary behind it, who glanced up at him and blinked several times.

"I'm here for Kane," Kurama offered.

"Kane?"

"Yes, Kane, the spirit fox."

"Oh her! Oh, okay. Uh, let me… let me get you Felix." She punched in a number on an intercom system that plugged into her ear.

"What is it Tasha?" The man asked tiredly.

"Yeah, Youko Kurama's here to see, uh, Kane."

"Who?"

"Kane, you know, the fox girl. The one who's always in the labs?"

"I know who Kane is you dimwit! You said who was here to see her? Youko Kurama?"

"Uh," she looked up at him. "You're not like, impersonating him are you?"

"No." Kurama shook his head.

"Yeah, Youko Kurama's here."

"Damn, what did she do now?" Felix hung up, exasperated.

Felix came down revealing he was a skinny, short, fluffy haired demon with big purple eyes. He whistled when he spotted Kurama. "Wow, that's something. Youko Kurama's actually here." He crossed his arms and stared, mystified. After a couple seconds, he snapped out of it and shook his head. "Oh! Where are my manners. I'm Felix, Kane's handler." He stepped forward and held out his hand with a bright grin.

Kurama took it after a moment and nodded, "Youko Kurama, obviously. I'm dating Kane."

"Oh! Okay. She said that but I didn't believe her." He laughed excitedly and spun on his heels leading Kurama out of the building. "She's actually in her lab right now, so I'll take you to her."

"Thank you," Kurama folded his arms behind his back, following the man.

They crossed into a production section of the town not too far away, and entered a small building beside a huge factory. "This is Kane's lab. She has it pretty much to herself." He waved at a plant camera like those Kurama had installed throughout his house when he entered and the door pushed itself open with the same vine. "If you ever need her, start here. If she's not here, just punch 122 on the phone," he pointed to the phone on the wall. "That will call me directly. If she's not here, she's at one of our outlying factories so you'll need to talk to me so I can tell you which one."

"Alright, thank you," Kurama nodded.

"Oh no problem! I get to dream about a hunk like you all night thanks to this."

He chuckled, "I get that a lot."

"Mm-hmm," he agreed enthusiastically. They stepped into a large lab, equipped to the teeth with technology, but it still had room for plants, which covered practically every free space. There was no Kane in sight however, but Kurama felt her close. "Oh, she must be in the greenhouse." He crossed to a door on the far side and it opened. The two descended a flight of stairs and entered a fully lit and plant-covered green house. "Kane! Your boyfriend's here!"

She popped up from the middle of the room, "Kurama! You made it!"

Kurama grinned and hurried over to her, sweeping her off her feet to kiss him. She did so happily and wrapped her legs around his waist to hold herself up. She nuzzled against his neck and nipped it when he kept swinging her around. He eventually stopped, stumbling a step as he regained his balance and kissed her.

"I missed you vixen."

"Mmm, the way you say that makes me want to get rid of Felix."

Kurama glanced up at Felix and gave him a mischievous grin, snickering.

Felix held up his hands, "Don't look at me. I'll leave. I don't have to be told twice. If you two want to make baby foxes I am not going to stop you!" He started back up the stairs.

Kurama laughed and hefted Kane up, "Thank you again, Felix!" Kurama purred, knowing it'd give the man dreams for all his years to come. He chuckled and kissed Kane again, "So vixen, what are you up to?"

"Just, getting the flashlights ready really. I haven't had a lot of time." She sighed and let go of him sticking her feet firmly back on the ground.

Kurama glanced up to look at her work space, "Well, I'm here to help."

"Yeah? I thought you were here to vacation." She stepped away from him to a couple of trill weeds were potted close together, but both separated by plastic from one another.

"I'll help you so we can have some vacation time together."

"There's really not much to do. I'm just working on getting these guys to weaken a bit when they're grown from a seed."

"Mm, well, that shouldn't be hard." Kurama stepped close to her side and examined the trill weeds, brushing a hand along the top of their leaves, "Come to think of it that probably didn't help," he chuckled and sighed, "Alright, what do you want me to do?"

"I'm not exactly sure how you can help. You're stronger than me so naturally they're going to respond to you more than they will respond to me."

"I could just watch you," He chuckled, "Make interesting remarks."

"Sure." Kane ignored him for the next hour until she was handling a trill weed and not having her energy diminish. She slipped the seed of that into a case, sealed it shut around the rim of the light bulb holder, and then grew the trill weed inside. She then stuck that in the flashlight and tested to see if it would light up. After a minute of taking her energy away from the plant quickly until it lit up the bulb, it did. She then broke the creature free and grew it to maturity planting it in soil. She got ten small pots, and began those from the large mature plant which she weaned into giving her seeds. She grabbed a tag from the far wall and dragged the ten pots upstairs into the lab setting them on the only empty table in the place near the door beneath the phone at the entrance.

"Alright Kurama, let's go."

Kurama blinked a few times, and offered her his hand, "Lead the way m'lady."

She took it and led him out of the lab before pausing to breath. "We're really going to my home? You don't, maybe, have somewhere else you'd rather go?"

"Nope, let's go to your home."

She shifted uncomfortably, but nodded and started south. They were watching the sun go down atop a pretty hillside coming up to mountains on their left when Kane paused and looked about. "You know, this is the sort of place where I'd find a den for the night."

"Yeah? Alright, let's find a den." He glanced around, "I might have a den around here, I have so many I start to lose track though."

"Yeah, I had one once but I forgot where it was." Kane sighed, "See if you can find it. I want to see one of your dens."

Kurama nodded and headed off with her to the mountains. It was a few hours of looking around before Kurama finally found the well hidden den and invited her into the tight space.

Kane followed him in, snuggling up close as they squeezed through the entrance.

The den opened up to a small mattress with a few shelves carved out of the rock, but besides that it was bare, "I think this was one of my dens I made when I started wandering."

"Were you from a village near here?"

"Somewhat near, several miles away."

"Mm, I hope we don't come from the same village, that'd be awkward."

"That would be awkward. To a point anyways. If our families were unrelated that'd be fine."

"Who're your family?"

"Enjya and Sen."

"Never heard of them. What's your village's name?"

"It's… uh, Fuk Peaks."

Kane laughed, and it wasn't a restrained, dainty laugh like she was trying to behave herself, it was a full-on, loud, chortling laugh.

Kurama flushed a bright red, "Whatever! I didn't choose the name," he started laughing.

"Oh my god that's great."

"And that's F-U-K not F-U-C-K."

"Right, right," She laughed harder. "Is it, uh, between some peaks?"

"It is!" He chuckled.

"And let me guess, they're mating peaks."

"Uhm, well, they're starting to form together, making the village smaller? Sort of?"

"They're totally fucking peaks." Kane laughed harder.

He laughed hard, "But I don't know if they stopped, they might've gone back to expanding. You're the Lee village then?"

"Yeah. Lee South Northfield Q."

He blinked a few times, "Fancy," he chuckled.

"Not really. Our home was on Northfield, the south of Northfield in the Q section."

"Oh," he nodded.

"Did uh, fuk village have anything like that?"

"Fuk Peaks." He scolded playfully, "No. Not really."

"So you didn't, uh, want to know where the person was if they were out of the village?"

"We knew the general area, South, North, East, West, but we didn't have subsections."

"Those came about because families would split and spread among Northfield so we had to tell which part of the family was which eventually. Like, L through P are all this family of reds who were really sort of distant. L was standoffish, and O was the main family they all came from, the parents, and M and N were good friends, but not with O or L, and P was filled with some rotten people."

Kurama stared at her and nodded, "Alright then. Good to know."

She sighed, "Then A, B, T, and V were also all related, but clearly they spread out a bit more. It was just easier than the south-southwestern section of Northfield, near the big tree. I think it was P who decided to finally label everyone in Northfield like that. They went around to each marker and wove in some vines in the letters."

He chuckled, "So why'd you leave?"

Kane sighed and snuggled against him. "They didn't like me. When I was still in my fox-fire years, I burned down half our winter supply."

"Oh." He rubbed the back of his neck, "That's not good."

"No, so they uh, never really liked me. The only time I could really be with people was when I was pretending to be my sister, but I couldn't keep it up."

"Well, uh. I don't think I'd be too fond of you either if that happened," he chuckled.

"I was like, three, okay?"

"I know I know," he sighed, "Damn, that's… quite the feat."

"It was salvaged because Southbridge had a surplus and was able to share."

"Mm. Well, just don't burn it down this time around," he tried to lighten the mood but just mentally smacked himself a few times.

She chuckled for him anyway. "Did you grow up in your village well?"

"For the most part. Like any kit I had my five seconds of terrifying fame," he laughed, "I dropped a flower pot on someone's head once."

"That's impressive."

"I was up high on the roof of a building, moving around pots for my mother, and I dropped one."

"On a roof? Oh! Right, you were in the mountains." She laughed. "Most of our buildings are underground to some extent."

"Yeah, we had some roofs. Not too many, but my family had a building with a roof."

"Maybe we should stop by." She snuggled closer to him.

"Maybe, if you'd like." He rubbed her side, nuzzling into her hair.

"I think I'd like that, yes."

"Then we'll visit the Fuk Peaks."

She laughed again, hard.

"I'm not making it up either," he chuckled, "You could say I'm a Fuk Fox."

"A Fox from Fuk Peaks." She shook her head trying to understand it.

He laughed and kissed her head.

When they reached the village, the only reason Kurama knew they'd reached the village was because of the life in all of the plants. They were all teeming with energy and vibrant like he'd stepped into another fox's territory, and he had. They were crossing a vast series of rolling hills and gullies when he felt it, and he understood why they had to assign names to sections like they did. The place was expansive. Kane strode up to a tall, thick pine tree, ducking under it's branches, and drew Kurama along with her. When they touched the tree together, she said something under her breath that he didn't catch, and suddenly they were surrounded by noise of life.

Ducking back out from beneath the tree, Kurama saw they were in the middle of several dens in the boulders sticking out of the rocky terrain of the rolling hills, and each boulder was a house with a door and everything. In this section the doors were painted with elegant symbols like a raven, a rabbit, and a hammer.

"Wow," Kurama touched her arm, "This is impressive."

"This is the business district."

"Oh, wow. Alright, what is your, uh, section exactly?"

"General living." As they wandered back through the hills, ducking into underpasses that were marked with boulders without doors, Kurama realized that more than just foxes lived in this village. There were a lot of skilled trades demons as well such as fire demons working as smiths, and water demons.

"Wow, uh, you didn't tell me it was this busy."

"Does it matter?" She sighed and they entered a quieter part of town suddenly. The noise died off, and several foxes scattered back through doors when they saw her coming. The only ones who didn't were those who were too far from their homes to get inside quickly.

Kurama's ears fell back and he took Kane's hand, "Alright, let's go see your family."

"Yeah, that's where we're going. It's this way." She pointed towards another large tree, but this one was more like a heavy water tree. She veered east once the doors began to letter themselves rather than numbers, and followed the alphabet backwards until they made it to Q. She knocked on the door.

Kurama examined the door. It was a nice door, nothing too shabby, but not fancy either. He squeezed Kane's hand, "Are you happy to see your family?"

"I don't even know if they're going to still be here." She sighed heavily and stared down at her feet, holding his hand back weakly.

"But if they are here, are you still happy to see them?"

"Yeah, I'm excited. I want to see how the little ones grew up if they're still here."

Kurama smiled and kissed her cheek, "I'm excited too."

Kane smiled wearily. When the door opened, which happened suddenly, Kane was staring at a mirror. The mirror smiled happier than Kurama had ever seen Kane in his entire time knowing her, and launched herself forward hugging her twin tightly around the neck and the two spun around so Kurama's Kane was practically stumbling into the door by the time the mirror Kane let her go, shoving her inside.

"Oh my god! It's been forever!" Kane Two exclaimed. It even sounded like her.

"Wait," Kurama touched both of their arms, "Wait, who's who? This is really confusing."

One of them gasped and gawked at him, while the other just looked confused. "I'm me, and this is my sister, Jinx." Kane replied patting her sister's shoulder.

"Okay, you, my wonderful lady," Kurama took his sash off and tied it around her waist.

"Don't let her fool you. She's a real tease. I'm Kane. Not that one." The other huffed.

Kurama eyed the other woman, undid the tie on Kane, and brought her sister close with a hand on her waist, "Are you Vixen?" He teased, smacking his sash against her hip.

Kane growled and snagged the sash back heading inside.

Kurama sighed, "Kane," he hurried after her.

Jinx giggled and followed the two inside shutting the door with her butt. When Kurama caught up to Kane, she flipped the sash over his head and pulled him close with it catching his neck. She yanked him close, and kissed him fully on the lips. "Mine." She warned him sternly.

"I can tease," He purred.

"Yeah Kane, what's the big fuss?" Jinx asked slipping close to them and snuggling up to Kurama's side, "You haven't marked him or nothing," she trailed a finger down Kurama's jaw looking at him with such a seductive eye, Kurama had to hold his breath to stop from gaping.

Kurama leaned against her hand, "I could get used to this," he teased Kane.

Kane took a deep breath, held it for a moment, then let it go with a heavy sigh. "Whatever." She left the sash draped over his shoulders and headed for the nearest energy signature.

"I'm not going to leave you for your sister," Kurama followed after her, getting close enough to wrap his arms around her. Kane slipped out of his hold when Jinx grabbed his arm.

"How could you say that, you don't know me." Jinx proclaimed.

"Because I have the hots for your sister." Kurama purred.

"Yeah, well maybe I've got all she's got and a little bit extra."

"I'm fine with Kane, thank you."

"Uh huh. Fine with Kane. I see." Jinx passed him to walk with Kane down the hall, mimicking her in every way.

Kurama sighed and followed the two girls, "So you two really are identical."

Kane and Jinx turned into a large sitting room that was lit with windows to the outside through one of the rock-faces of a hillside. "Oh! Kane! You're back!" A man popped up. He had red features everywhere, red tail, red ears, red hair, but it was wavy instead of the straight sleek hair Kane and Jinx had.

Kurama made his way to Kane's side, smiling as he touched her back.

She glanced up at him and smiled.

"So uh," a girl started, looking between the two of them. "Jinx, are you..." She was blonde, not shiney gold like Kane, and her tail was blonde as well.

"Wait," Kurama stepped back, "Wait, Kane?"

"I think she's the one on the left." The man commented, sitting back down.

"Good god," Kurama rubbed his face, "This is going to make me out as a terrible boyfriend, really."

"Oh Kane has a boyfriend!" The woman squeaked excitedly. She popped up and rushed over to him. "Oh my god I can't believe it! I actually get to meet Kane's boyfriend! We always thought she was going to be gay. Oh my god I'm so happy! Maybe she can finally have little kits running around now and mother the hell out of them!" She was practically prancing in spot as she held his hand. "Oh and Jaki he's a silver! He's a silver! Oh they would be so precious!"

The man sighed. "Hi, I'm Jaki, that's Kijo there who's like, baby obsessed, and one of those two is Jinx."

"It's that one," Kane pointed beside herself. Kurama had gotten it right, if the girl who said it was actually Kane.

"I'm just going to stay neutral until I can really figure this out."

Kijo dragged him over to the couch they'd been sitting on and shoved him down on his butt between her spot and Jaki's. "Well I'm not letting you go anywhere. Jinx, can you go get Sylvia?"

"Sylvia?" Kane questioned coming over to her brother and sister. She pulled Jaki into a hug, albeit a brief one, and then Kijo as well.

"Yeah, since you've been gone I've gotten myself a baby." she was smiling happily like somehow that was a personal triumph.

Kurama chuckled, "What a family dynamic."

"What do you mean?" Kijo focused wholly on him now as Jinx left the room.

"I'm so confused," he smiled, "Okay, Kane, come here." He held out his hand to the woman.

Kane stepped forward and took it. "Don't worry, Kijo is just, overzealous. She means no harm, usually." Kane kissed him softly on the cheek.

"Oh, am I scaring you?" Kijo squeaked.

"N-no. Just uh, a little overwhelmed." He patted Kane's hand.

Kane dragged him up from between the two siblings and sat with him on a different couch. "Come on, you'll want somewhere less, centered when everyone gets here. Jaki and Kijo are my littermates."

Kurama nodded at first but frowned, "Jinx isn't your twin? A littermate?"

"No, Jinx is actually the oldest of our generation." Kijo filled in. "She was the first born, and didn't have a littermate."

"Oh, alright." He nodded, "That's, bizarre. Are you two completely identical?"

"Yeah, they're pretty much the same. Jinx is a little more outgoing than Kane, but she likes to tease people by pretending to be Kane," Jaki piped up.

"Uh, do you two have the same everything?" Kurama was asking Kane directly.

"Yup." Kane nodded.

"Hm," Kurama touched her neck, pushing her hair back, "Any outstanding love bites to identify you?"

Kane laughed and shied away from his touch protecting her neck. "Stop it that tickles." She grumbled at him.

"You won't get upset with me if I confuse you two constantly, will you?"

"No fair, if I say no then you can get away with not trying, but if I say yes, then I'm being a bitch."

Kijo gasped, "Oh my god he has her talking. Look! Look!" she patted Jaki's leg enthusiastically.

Kurama glanced at them, "Okay, I'll try, but will you get upset if I fail?"

"I will be pissed if you sleep with my sister or kiss her." Kane kissed him squarely on the lips and snuggled up to his side. "Don't worry, you're going to be so busy seeing this family I've got you won't even notice."

"I'll avoid doing that if possible, kissing, and sleeping," he nodded.

"Good." Kane nuzzled up to his neck, and whispered softly in his ear, "I have a scar near healed on my left hip, it's hard to see, but it's there. You just can't go checking it in public." she nipped softly at his bangs and sat up.

"Oh I can't?" He tugged on the waistband of her pants.

She smacked his hand away and glared at him.

Two more adult foxes came in, one gold mixed with red ears and tail, and the other red with a white tipped tail. "Tenma! Rue!" Kane stood and held out her arms to the two boys. They came forward and hugged her happily.

"Kane! Jinx said you were back but we didn't believe her!" The golden boy exclaimed.

"I'm just visiting," she ruffled his hair. "Rue, who is that?" she asked sniffing at him.

Rue backed up and kicked his feet. "Well uh."

"Rue found a boyfriend." Kijo announced.

"Those two are the litter after us," Jaki filled in for Kurama. "We helped raise them, well, Kane helped raise them anyway."

"You found a what? A boyfriend? You're married?" Kane was having a hard time believing him. Kurama could hear it in her tone and see it in the way her tail drooped.

"Not yet!" Rue fixed his short scruffy hair.

"Ooh, you have a boyfriend? Is he any good?" Kurama asked curiously.

"Who's that?" Tenma asked sticking his chin on Kane's shoulder to stare at Kurama. "Oh god, are you bedding a silver?" Tenma stepped back.

"He's not… He's not that type of silver. He's from," She flushed and glanced at Kurama, snickering.

"I'm from Fuk Peaks."

Jinx paused in the doorway with a little black furred baby fox in her arms and stared at him like she was seeing him for the first time. "You're what?"

"I'm from Fuk Peaks." Kurama repeated, "My name is Kurama."

"Kurama Peaks or Kurama Fuk, either way is bad." Rue snickered.

"Youko Kurama."

"Wait, Youko?" Tenma stepped away from Kane to examine Kurama closer.

"Yes, that's what most of Demon World knows me as."

"Youko Kurama Fuk, that's even worse." Jaki added into the silence.

"I don't use my village name. I just go by Youko Kurama, Demon World's Greatest Thief."

Kijo retrieved the little black fox baby and started cooing at the thing ignoring the conversation. She brought Sylvia over to Kane, "Well regardless of who you're dating, meet your niece."

"Oh, Kijo, I really am not sure I should be holding one of those," Kane backed away holding up her hands in defense.

"Don't give her any ideas," Kurama chuckled, holding out his hands, "May I?"

"Of course!" Kijo supplied the baby to Kurama's arms.

Kurama tucked the baby close and smiled, "Hello little one," he offered softly, watching the small kit.

Rue and Tenma broke into frantic whispers, then Rue hurried out of the room, while Tenma crossed to peer at Kurama and the baby.

Kurama glanced up at Tenma and asked bluntly, "What?"

"Well you look like you're experienced holding one of those is all."

"I've held a few babies." He agreed.

Kijo smacked Tenma upside the back of his head, "Stop being so rude. If you're so worried about Kane's potential mate then maybe you should go find one yourself. It's about time one of us actually starts producing our own offspring! It might as well be the most docile of the lot of us too."

"Or you can ask me questions, I'm not opposed to questions." Kurama offered, trying to calm the situation down. He really didn't want to be the start of a fight.

"Guys, come sit down," Jaki barked. He hadn't moved from his spot on the sofa yet.

Jinx, and he knew it was Jinx because she sat down like a supermodel instead of a person, plopped down right next to Kurama trying to act flirtatious like Kane, but Kurama knew Kane had retreated to the doorway to await Rue coming back.

"So Jinx, you have any significant others?" Kurama asked skeptically, "Or are you still trying to win me over?"

"Me? Oh no. I don't have anyone. It sure would be fun though, huh? I mean, I know quite a bit more about the art of.. uh, love, than Kane does." He saw Kane shrug, agreeing with her sister.

"That's okay. I'm courting with your sister, I really do like her," Kurama shrugged.

"Oh wow, that serious huh?" Jinx asked. Tenma retreated to the spot Kijo had attempted to dump him in, and Kijo stayed close to her baby, who looked nothing like her at all.

"Kijo, where'd you get that?" Kane asked when she decided that Rue wasn't coming back quickly. She sat on the arm by Kurama, but didn't reach to touch the little fox girl.

"My baby? Oh, well the family over in South Hammer Thirty didn't want her."

"Really? That's a shame," Kurama sighed, "You're in good hands now little one."

"Why didn't they want her?" Kane pressed.

"She was sick." Kijo shrugged. "She had um, what's that called? Like, the one where you're throwing up all the time and your energy dies out?"

"God you're the town doctor, why don't you know this stuff?" Jaki scolded, "Retheri Fever."

"Right, so they thought she was going to die."

"It is a fatal disease," Jinx agreed leaning back, relaxing into her skin now that she was listening to Kijo's story.

"Yeah, well, not fatal enough. I pulled her through."

"That's wonderful."

"Kijo is the doctor here because her energy is supple. She can feed it to just about anything living and it'll repair itself or fight stronger." Jinx explained. "That's how Kane's still here. That's when we found out about it actually."

Kane sighed in resignation. "I never told him about that."

"What, well, you don't have to tell me." Kurama frowned, "Now, unless you want to."

"Oh she's not getting a choice. I love telling this story. It's so uplifting." Jinx grinned. "So when Kane was like, three, she burned half our food supply down, and everyone hated her guts. It was bad enough that she got the snot beaten out of her like nearly every time she went out anywhere. One night Kijo and Kane were heading home from somewhere, because they wouldn't usually attack if someone was with her, and they decided that enough was enough, and tried to chase her out of town. Well, Kane fought as best she could, but she was a really late bloomer, couldn't find her skills for nothing, and so was Kijo, but somehow Kane got a punctured lung and she was coughing up blood, had a broken rib poking out of her chest, and her legs were all a mangled mess, so Kijo started sobbing and trying to stop the guys from hitting on her, and they left. So there she was, sobbing over her dying sister, when she felt this gentle little tug on her energy, then another, and another, so she focused on it and shoved through the tugging to project her energy down into her sister, and right before her eyes," Jinx snapped her fingers, "Kane was all better. Like, fifty people witnessed Kane's bones going back to place and ever since Kijo's been the town hero, especially since she's so caring even about the girl who nearly killed us all."

"Oh wow." Kurama blinked, "Wow, that's amazing. I could make an inappropriate comment but I'm not going to," Kurama murmured quietly.

"No, you're not." Kijo slipped her arms around the little baby scooping her up. "Not with this little one around, no," She nuzzled the baby's nose.

Kurama smiled, "My mother wants me to have grandchildren for her so badly."

"Oh do it! Please! I'd love to see a silver golden brat running around!" Kijo exclaimed excitedly. She was loud enough that Sylvia woke up and started to whine. Jinx stood, taking the baby from the woman. Kijo hardly noticed as she started pleading with Kurama to screw her sister.

"Well, one of the things is it might not be a silver," Kurama held up his hands, "Um, it's complicated."

"Well uncomplicate it! All you have to do is use her body as your sperm bank and boom, baby!"

"Um, it's not that." Kurama shook his head, "It depends on what body I use."

"Oh my god Kijo shut up." Kane covered her face with her hand. "I do not want to be called a sperm bank, please."

"What body?"

Rue came in the door followed by a black haired man.

"I have two bodies actually- oh dear Rue I might have to steal that man," Kurama teased.

Kane whistled as well, "He is a looker isn't he?"

The man Rue had dragged in was not a fox, but a guy who looked practically human.

"Oh, hello," The man offered softly, "Um, why did you drag me here again?"

"This is my sister, Kane, I think."

"Oh! Oh, uh, wait, there are two of them?" The man blinked.

"Yeah," Rue rubbed the back of his head, "I think this one's Kane anyway. Where's Jinx?" He asked Jaki.

Jaki sighed, "She went to comfort Sylvia."

"Yup, this is Kane." Rue nodded affirmingly.

"Oh, nice to meet you Kane," The man held out his hand, "I'm Kiba."

Kane shook his hand, smiling softly. "Nice to meet you."

"And you." He stepped back and folded his arms.

"You look familiar." Kurama commented, "But I know they're not you."

"Would you uh, like to take a walk?" Kane stood ignoring Kurama's comment, and offered the back door for Kiba to proceed her.

"Sure." Kiba nodded, "Just to let you know, your brother is normally the one on top," with that he started towards the door.

"Kurama, would you care to join us?" Kane held out her hand to him. The way her eyes followed Kiba's back and her tail twitching made it hard to imagine this was going to be fun.

"Uh, sure?" Kurama took her hand.

Kane followed Kiba out into an underground garden system which opened into a courtyard with other doors on the far side. They were labeled with the letters up above but the room reminded Kurama of Maze Castle.

"So how did you and Rue meet?" Kane's tail still twitched.

"I was in the village for some appointments and I ran into him, a bit literally," Kiba chuckled.

"What type of appointments?" This was not a friendly questioning. Kurama was just happy he wasn't on the receiving end of this.

"I'm an empath."

That gave her pause. She stole a glance back at Kurama, then continued to stare at Kiba as she considered that.

"I didn't manipulate his feelings. I can't do that unless someone wants me to."

"Do you make him happy?" Kane asked slowly.

Kiba nodded, "He enjoys my company. We make each other happy."

"Are you aware that you've stolen from him? You're only dating, you're not courting. You shouldn't be sleeping together unless you're courting."

"It's his decision, not yours." Kiba told her.

"It might be his decision but dating someone who doesn't understand courting is hard. You don't know if they're just obstinate or not interested, and it's a lot of stress you can avoid just by bringing it up and talking about it."

"I like your brother, I don't have any plans on leaving him."

"Well he didn't introduce you as the man he was courting," Kane snapped. "Rue is a shy boy, he'd not bring it up, he'd expect you to because you're the one who wouldn't understand it, so unless you did, he wouldn't want to step on your toes."

"I'm not going to let you upset me. I'll ask him about it later."

"I don't care if you're upset or not, what I care about is my brother, so get your act together and if you really don't intend on leaving him, court him."

"Kane, stop." Kurama shook his head, "Empaths don't have a courting system, he wouldn't know about it. You're going to scare him off and break your brother's heart if you keep this up."

"Yeah well it's someone's job to explain it to him."

"Yes, but not by snapping at him."

Kane sighed heavily and let go of Kurama's hand folding her arms over her chest. He'd won that argument, she just didn't want to admit it.

"So, Kiba, you should bring it up, and if you're comfortable, maybe offer to court him." Kurama offered.

Kiba nodded, "I'll think about it."

Kurama looked at Kane, "Continue on with your whatever."

"My inquisition of the man who's stealing my brother?"

"Yes."

"I'm done."

"Well? Do you approve?" Kurama chuckled.

"He makes Rue happy. I can see why Jinx didn't kill him," Kane nodded.

"Good, then if you'll excuse me," Kiba made his way back to the door.

"We can leave now," Kane whispered stepping up to Kurama, taking his hands.

"What do you mean, as in leave, leave?"

She nodded. "You've met them."

"What about your parents?"

Kane's mood darkened. She sighed, "I don't know where they are and I don't care."

"Oh, alright, I'd like to say goodbye." Kurama kissed her.

Kane held his hand softly in her own and stayed put, "They'll want to keep you here longer. They're like that. As it is we only have a couple minutes where Kijo will think we're making out out here before she realizes I'm planning on escaping."

"Come on," Kurama tugged her back to the door, "Just a little longer."

"Fine." She pulled him back outside though, "But first, give me a hickey or something so you can tell me apart from Jinx."

Kurama sighed and leaned down, kissing her on the lips. He brushed her hair aside and gave her a soft nip to make her skin red, "That'll stay there for awhile."

Kane nodded and kissed him back.

He smirked and grabbed her hair tie, pulling it out, "There we go." He fluffed her hair out.

Kane's ears fell back and she attempted to retrieve the tie from him, "Hey, wait a minute here!"

"No, no, I can tell you apart now."

"But I like my hair up."

He ran his fingers through her hair and brushed it back, "But it's so soft." He parted it to either side itching at her scalp a little when she leaned into his hand.

"But it's going to get in everything." She made a weak attempt to steal the hair tie back.

"Fine, fine," he gathered up her hair and put the hair tie lower, so her hair was pulled back, but sat at the base of her neck rather than at the top of the back of her head. He left her hair loose enough that it fluffed as she shifted trying to figure out what he did. She reached up to tighten it, but he pushed her hands away and kissed her. "Stop it. Leave it like that."

Kane sighed heavily and nodded, "Fine."

He took her hand and dragged her into the home again, finding their seats with ease.

Jinx was in the middle of another story when they settled down, but before they could catch the line of what was going on, she finished the story.

"Welcome back," Kiba offered.

"Thank you."

"I was just explaining who you were to them," Jinx offered Kurama, "Honestly we don't get that much outside news about infamous people here. "

"I was wondering why no one screamed in shock."

Jinx smiled. "Yeah, well, they're still sinking in that you're the Youko Kurama I used to tell them horror stories about."

Kurama smiled, "Stay inside at night kiddies." He said in his best haunting voice, deep and low.

Kiba broke into loud laughter.

Kane flushed hard glaring at him. "Oh shut up! We're courting. It's not like it's that odd."

"Okay, what just happened?" Rue asked Kiba leaning against his side.

Kiba turned and whispered into his ear.

"Ew! Oh my god! I do not need to know when my father, for all intents and purposes, is turned on!"

Kiba broke into a louder laughter and clapped his thighs, "Oh my god," he was laughing so hard his face was red.

"You were turned on by that?" Jinx exclaimed, surprised.

"Seriously? You weren't?"

"I do that to her all the time," Kurama dismissed.

"Oh-" Kane squirmed and tried to find something to get him to shut up, but just pawed at him and huffed.

He laughed and kissed her, "Mm, it's fun."

"This is so odd, I don't know if I should be happy or disgusted." Kijo commented aloud staring at the two of them while Kane kissed him back tenderly.

"You can be both." Kiba offered.

"Well it's like, that's my, my… and my… and I want her to be happy but like-"

"It's alright." Kiba smiled.

Kane pulled away from Kurama and sat up just keeping his hand in hers. "So Kijo, what have you been doing since you got Sylvia?"

"Oh, well now that I know what this whole motherhood thing is about I've been helping the women who can't get pregnant get fixed so they can try to get pregnant again." She clapped her hands excitedly up near her shoulder and posed herself like there was someone taking a picture of her amazingness.

"That's fun," Kurama smiled.

"Yes very. It's always been one of those things where it's like, No, I don't know if I want to waste the energy, but now that I understand it, I can really sympathize with what these women want and I do my best to cure them of whatever it is that's stopping them from getting pregnant."

Kurama nodded, "I see. I know a healer back in Human World."

"Oh! You do? What's his name? Is he single?" Kijo asked excitedly sitting straighter in her chair.

"She's a she, and she's pregnant."

"Oh! How wonderful!" Kijo squealed in delight. "You just simply have to invite her to come here for me. I'd love to meet her!"

"I don't think that's a good idea. She's happy in Human World."

"Well why wouldn't she be happy here? We have everything she could ever want."

"She has a human husband."

"Well he could come here too. We accept all sorts here." Kijo offered softer. She was losing steam.

"They're not moving here." Kurama told her bluntly.

"Oh. Well how come?"

"Kijo, they're happy where they are. If you want to meet her, then go to her."

"But that's out in the wilderness. I don't want to go there."

"But you're a big girl and you can do it." Kurama almost barked.

"Oh, no, no I don't think I want to. If they don't want to come visit me then fine, but I'm not going to go risking my neck to go visit her." Kijo sounded put out.

"Then you won't meet her. Not everyone is going to tailor to your needs and wants. She'd be risking her neck too you know. It's not all about you."

Kiba clapped, "Hey, what was the name of that grey fox we saw yesterday Rue?"

"Uh, the one who was hitting on you or the one who was checking you out?"

"The one who was hitting on me."

"Titwit."

"Huh," Kiba frowned, "Strange. I was wondering, would you tell me about this courting thing?"

Rue flushed dark red and stared at him, shocked. His mouth fell open, snapped shut, then fell open again as he tried to explain it. Eventually he looked to Jinx for help.

"Uh, well, courting among foxes is sort of like marriage among humans? Except it's harder to divorce. The interested side offers an orchid seed to their intended, and the orchid grows with the love that the person has for them. Once their love is, fully bloomed, literally, the flower shows the moulding of their two energies together, and binds them. Most of the time, it requires tasks that the one given the orchid asks of the one who gave the orchid to accomplish. This is so that they can prove their love to them, so the tasks could really be anything, even impossible things."

"Rue, would you be interested in something like that?"

Rue flushed darker still, it seeped down his neck and he swallowed several times, trying to find some words to answer.

Kiba took his hand and rubbed his palm, "It's alright."

"What I don't want is to lose you." Rue squeezed his hand.

"I don't know how you'd do that."

"But you can't grow flowers."

"That's true." Kiba sighed.

"But you could still offer the seed," Jinx pointed out softly, "If you gave it to Rue, then he'd be the one growing it. If you had to grow it, you'd just have to water it and love it. Even humans can grow orchids."

"I don't normally carry orchid seeds around," He admitted quietly.

"You live in a village full of plant manipulators and other such foxes, built in an invisible barrier which puts us out of sync with the rest of Demon World just by a moment, and you're worried you can't find an orchid seed? Wow." Jaki huffed and shook his head. "That's really something."

Kiba chuckled, "I sometimes forget about that you know. Empaths can be stuck in their own little world from time to time."

Kurama's sharp ears picked up Sylvia crying again. The baby was waking up to fuss and started whining and crying. Kijo heard it too, but just looked towards Jinx, who left without even glancing at the mother.

Kurama searched around in his hair for a moment, before pulling out a seed, "Kiba, here."

Kiba took it from him and smiled, "Thank you." He turned to Rue and smiled, "I don't really know how to do this, but uh," he offered the seed to Rue.

Rue smiled warmly and took the seed from him before throwing his arms around him and snuggling close. "Let's get out of here, let's go to that house of yours, with the big fluffy bed, and fuck all night long. I want to feel you in the very essence of me." Rue whispered after growing the little seedling.

"I can do that!" Kiba scooped him up and exited the house.

"I think that was like five requests in one." Kane commented.

"At least they're happy."

Kane nodded.

"That's just gross," Kijo huffed.

"You should be happy for him, he's found someone to love."

"Yeah, but they're like, totally unable to produce babies unless I fix Rue to a woman."

"So? Their love is still love."

"Well what's the point if it's not for a baby?"

"You're still a virgin aren't you?" Kane asked lazily.

"People love each other not just for babies, but also for their company and the happiness and joy they bring each other."

"I'd better go check on Jinx, she's been gone for a long time." Kane offered getting up to leave.

Kurama watched her, unsure if that was a cue to get up or to stay put.

"Go ahead and stay, it won't take long. They're just going to go baby the baby." Tenma suggested.

"Alright."

"Plus, we haven't really got our shot at you yet." Jaki sat forward, stretching out his long legs to lean onto his knees and stare at Kurama with his own evil grin.

Kurama watched him, "So shoot."

Kane kissed his cheek and left him alone with her siblings.

"What's Kane been up to all this time?" Tenma asked first.

"What do you mean?"

"Well she's been gone for years, practically a century at least."

"I don't know everything she's been doing. I know she's been playing with technology."

"Ugh, oh my god Tenma, you couldn't have picked a more boring topic if you tried." Kijo interrupted. "What's it like being a revered god?"

"It's kind of nice," Kurama chuckled, "But I worship her just the same."

"You worship her? Her as in Kane? As in that woman who just left the room?" Jaki asked, really not believing him.

"Yes, I worship her, her body," he shrugged, "She's quite a vixen once you get to know her."

"Oh, we know her. We grew up with her, remember?" Jaki suggested.

"Not in the sense I know her."

"Well clearly we've never slept with her."

"That's exactly what I mean. She's a vixen once you get to know her like that."

"Surely you've had better lays before though, I mean, I can't imagine the number of people lining up to get pregnant with your child."

"I've had people who are more experienced, yes, but there's nothing like having sex with someone because you truly love them."

"I had a man I truly loved once," Kijo commented. Jaki rolled his eyes and shook his head a little, just enough Kijo couldn't see.

Kurama watched them and chuckled softly.

Tenma sighed too, "Kijo, we don't want to hear about the man who ran away again. He's already run away twelve times this year."

"Well Kurama hasn't heard it."

"We really don't," Kurama almost snapped. He wasn't in the mood to listen to that.

Jinx and Kane came back with the baby and a bottle in Jinx's care, and Kane still shying away from it. Kane took a seat next to Kurama and scooped up his hand.

"Oh, Kane, you're back."

"She's just too full of energy to stay asleep right now, especially when the strangers in the house." Kane explained as Jinx took a seat beside Tenma.

Kurama smiled and kissed her cheek, "What I should tell you all is that I have two bodies."

"I want to see!" Kijo exclaimed hopping up excitedly. The baby started hiccuping and threatening to cry at the noise and Jinx soothed it.

"Sssh, calm down." Kurama scolded Kijo, "Sit down and I'll show you."

Kijo sat primly on the edge of her seat.

Kurama got up and took a deep breath. He powered down easily and blinked a few times when he was in his human body, looking around the room.

"Your hair matches Jinx's tail," Jaki pointed.

"I guess so," Kurama touched his hair, "This is a human body."

"Human? You're part human?"

"No. This is just my human body. I stole it."

"Oh, that makes sense. How could we not have realized that was what was going on." Jaki was being incredibly sarcastic making a point of rolling his entire head instead of just his eyes.

Kurama chuckled, "Yes, this is my human body. It's pretty young, this is how Kane met me."

"Come on Jaki, Let it go." Tenma encouraged softly. "Kane, are you and Kurama going to be around for a while?"

Kane shook her head, "I just wanted to introduce him to you guys. We can't stay."

"Oh but you simply have to!" Kijo exclaimed getting up to block a door. "How could Sylvia grow up not knowing your love? You're her aunt!" Right on cue, despite Jinx trying to bounce and sooth the child, Sylvia started crying.

"We're not staying." Kurama snapped, "I have a human life I have to attend to."

"Well surely you wouldn't want to miss this opportunity to have your niece grow up knowing you," Kijo went to take Sylvia from Jinx, but Jinx didn't let the baby go.

Jinx turned her back on Kijo, "She's going to need a cleaning soon. You'd better not."

Kijo grimaced and backed away, her nose up. Jinx's tail twitched and she stepped over to the back door kissing Sylvia's temple and face until the baby started giggling and squealing in delight rather than crying.

Kurama sighed, "I'm not going to stay here, I have a life to pay attention to."

"As it is we only have another few days off. We really should get going." Kane suggested, watching Kurama intently.

"Mm, I'll walk you out. I have to go to the border anyway for guard duty." Jaki pushed himself up with a bloodthirsty grin.

Kurama powered back into Youko and nodded, "Alright."

Jinx offered Sylvia to Tenma before pulling Kane into a tight hug kissing her cheek. "Mmmm I miss you so much. Please come back safe okay?" She nuzzled into her sister's cheek.

"You need to get out more, go find someone to love." Kane ordered Jinx sternly. "If you don't have a mate for yourself by the time I get back, or at least someone other than these stupid grown up kids of ours to take care of I'm going to kick your ass."

"Hey I resent that!" Kijo exclaimed.

Kurama chuckled, "It was nice meeting you Jinx."

"It was nice to meet you too." Jinx smiled, "If you hurt her I'll hunt you down and tear you apart very, very slowly, do you understand me?" Jinx threatened sternly.

"I understand."

"Good. She's my sister. I love her. Oh and Kane, I'm glad you're not with that douche-waffle from last time."

"Wait, what last time?"

"Oh god, don't bring him up." Kane rubbed the bridge of her nose. "I'll be fine. Kurama's not leaving me. We'll get home and by the time we get there my orchid will have bloomed and then he's stuck for life. Trust me, I got this one. He's not escaping me."

He chuckled, "That's true."

Kane smiled, "Give Rue my regards." She took Kurama's hand. "I'll come visit in like, half a century or something."

Jinx huffed. "Fine. If I miss you, I'll just… I don't know."

"Look for the Hatanaka Corperation in Human World." Kane kissed Jinx's cheek. "Come on Jaki, let's go. Bye!" She waved to the family. Tenma held up Sylvia's little hand, bouncing her on his lap and waving it. They said their goodbyes and soon Kurama and Kane were out of the house with Jaki.

"So, you've visited before?"

"Once, but I didn't have time to spend here. I was just picking something up. What about you, Jaki, have you found anyone yet?"

Jaki shook his head and grew a staff from a blade of grass using it as a walking stick. "Nope. I mean I've dated a few times, but no one sticks around."

Kurama had to hold his tongue to keep from chuckling, and put it off as a cough.

"You could always leave you know, head out into the great beyond. You'd probably find more people who would appreciate your style."

"Probably." Kurama agreed.

"I considered that, but I like sleep."

Kurama chuckled, "I know a girl who's pretty crazy actually. She's a metal demon."

"You know a metal demon? God how many people do you know?"

"Um, a lot? She's interesting. I had her appraise some things for me once."

"Ah, and you think that we'd hit it off?" Jaki asked as they rounded a corner to a tree at the edge of a cliff-face.

"Maybe." Kurama nodded.

"Well unless you know right where she's at, I'm not going to bother. I don't want to go wandering around out there for a couple decades looking for a girl who might be dead already."

"She has a shop over near The River of Blood on the northern edge of Cannibal Lake."

"You say that like I know where it is," Jaki sighed, they slipped under the tree.

"You can figure it out."

"Anyway, you guys get out of here. I've got my patrol to start." He touched the tree and Kurama felt his heartbeat and the ground shift beneath his feet just a little. The images of the village faded everywhere but under the tree.

"Well, see you." Kurama waved him off and took Kane's hand.

Jaki waved, "Bye. Don't have too much fun. Kijo will hate you forever if you don't introduce her to any nieces or nephews she gets."

"Eh, it's a phase." Kane waved him off.

Jaki laughed and waved wandering away from the tree. Kurama and Kane headed for the mountains.

"Now off to our favorite Peaks." Kurama offered.

"Yup, and if you have a better den, I want to see it." She leaned up and kissed his cheek. "Rue getting that orchid just reminds me how much practice we need before the real deal."

"Yeah?"

"What if we suddenly forget what we're doing? We'd better rehearse." Kane nodded adamantly.

He chuckled, "Alright."

"How many more requests do you have for me Kurama?" Kane held his hand tightly.

"One." He smiled, "I want you to meet my close friends."

Kane smiled, "I'd like that." She leaned against his shoulder briefly, sighing happily. "I'm glad you know my family now. You can see where I grew up, and maybe understand why I left. Why I became what I did, and how I got where I am."

"Do you have anymore requests for me?" He asked softly.

"Just one, but you can never complete it." Kane looked up at him with a twinkle in her eyes.

"No?"

She shook it, "No. I'll tell you what it is when I meet your friends."

"Alright." Kurama nodded, "Let's get a move on."

When they reached Fuk Peaks, Kurama led Kane to the largest house at the back of the small cradle left in the mountain cup. When he reached the building, a black fox ran out and bowed deeply to him. "Lord Kurama, your family has been informed of your visit."

"Good, thank you Taro."

Kane flushed, "Uh, are you royalty or something?"

"No, we're just refined."

"You mean loaded."

"May I introduce the young lady?" Taro asked softly as he pulled open a door with another servant to let them inside out of the snow covered mountain.

"Kane." Kurama offered, leading Kane inside.

"Very good Sir." Taro preceded them through the ornate building until they reached a study where he stepped inside leaving the door shut between them, mostly, but they could hear his introduction.

"The Lord Kurama and his Lady Kane have arrived." He waited for a response before pushing open the door and holding it for them.

Kurama folded Kane's hands around his arm and lead her into the room, his head ducked close to his chest as he entered.

The first two people they saw were two silvers, who sat on a lavish couch together, hands folded in their laps.

"Kurama," the woman smiled, standing. She was clad in a long, flowing dress, with gems wrapped around her throat and sleeves that swept to the floor, but never actually touched it. She paused when she saw how Kurama was dressed and shook her head. "Go clean up Son. Oh, and get that girl something to wear as well." She folded her hands in front of herself, left over right and lifted her chin.

"Mother, we're not staying for long. What she's wearing is fine."

"Well you're not properly dressed."

"I don't care Mother." Kurama sighed, "Is Fujiko here?"

"Baby Brother!" Kurama found himself stumbling forward letting go of Kane as weight landed on his back and around his waist. Fujiko was definitely here. "Oh my god it's been so long since I've seen you!" He ruffled Kurama's hair and refused to get off.

"At least a few thousand years," Kurama whined, "My hair!"

"You dick-face! What the hell were you doing going and being a thief? Do you know how much shit I had to put up with here at home because you went and became infamous? Those two ass-hats over there wouldn't let me out of the house for years!"

"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" Kurama tried to get his hands off his hair.

"Language!" The father barked loudly and both boys cringed and separated.

Kurama sighed, "Why do I even listen to you? I don't have to listen to you."

"Get that tramp out of my sight before I show you what she's good for!" He barked pointing at Kane.

"Father, stop." Kurama shook his head, "She's not a tramp. I'm courting her."

His mother gasped and covered her mouth, "Oh, no, no. Oh Saburo I told you we should have arranged their marriages."

"Well, it's too late now."

"Oh this is a disaster!" Yasu crossed back to the couch where she had been sitting with her husband and threw herself dramatically across it covering her head with the back of her arm.

"Come on baby bro, let's get out of here." Fujiko, the silver who'd pounced upon him, grabbed Kurama's arm, and Kane's arm, and dragged the two out of the gallery.

Kurama yelped, "Dear god Fuji, why are you still here?"

"Because I'm not as strong as you."

"Just leave already!"

"Listen to that tune you changed. Man, I remember when we were growing up you left because you were too good for those two snobs in there, not because you thought they were snobs." His ears fell back. Kurama could tell his brother was nervous.

"Fuji, all you have to do is walk out the door." Kurama sighed, "Kane, this is my older brother, Fujiko."

"Nice to meet you I think."

"Pleasure's mine."

"So Kane, you still love me after seeing how my family is?" Kurama asked with a soft chuckle.

"You are not your family just like I'm not mine."

Kurama smiled and kissed her, "Yep. I have some other siblings but they left when I was young."

"I heard Tsushimi was found in a traders market a while back actually, so it's just you and Yoruyo now."

"Really? That's depressing."

"Yeah, I don't want to end up one of those little blurbs." He sighed heavily.

"You could go down to Lee Village."

"That's where Kane's from. There are a lot of different people. Her brother hooked up with an empath."

Fujiko's ears perked up, "Really? Is there anyone as cute as this little dame you've got hanging on your arm?"

"Her sister is identical to her." Kurama smiled.

Fujiko stopped dead in his tracks, "You can't be serious."

"I'm dead serious."

"Identical? Like, we could trade wives and not realize it?"

"Identical, yes. I got them mixed up."

"No you didn't." Kane patted his arm. "You just thought you did and I wasn't going to ruin Jinx's fun. "

"Yes I did," Kurama sighed, "For a minute anyways."

"Anyway, you just go down to the valley, find the old Pine with the most energy, and touch it. You'll get right into the village. Ask for Jinx or Kijo and I'm sure they'll… well, you can find your way from there. You don't have to ask for Jinx or anyone, but I know Jinx would take care of you if you get lost."

"She's the identical one right?" Fujiko looked excited.

"Yes, Jinx is the identical one."

"I am so not staying here." He laughed. "Let me go get a bag and I'll join you out of here."

Kurama laughed too, "Alright then."

Fujiko grabbed a bag in record time. He'd clearly had already had it packed and ready to go before they got there.

"Let me say goodbye to Mother and Father," Kurama sighed, "I'm sure even if they're snobs they do care about me to a point."

"I'm not, but duty is duty." Fujiko followed him to say goodbye.

Kurama opened the door and peaked in, "Mother? Father?"

"Ugh you ungrateful wench! How could you do this to us. You'll ruin our entire line by dating that-that half breed."

"Well, Fuji is after her sister."

"Yeah, see ya!" Fujiko waved and went to wait with Kane.

"But I have to say goodbye anyways Mother, Father." Kurama offered his arms for a hug, but winced.

Kurama's father glanced between his wife and his son for a while before eventually venturing out to give Kurama a hug. He pet his hair and sighed, "Just be happy my boy. Both of you. Please. I don't want to hear about any more of our kits ending up stuffed in a museum."

"I will be Father," Kurama nuzzled into his shoulder, content with the touch. The three left without another word after his mother refused to send off either of her boys. The conversation down the mountain was about how long it would take for the two to start reproducing again. They parted ways as Kane pointed out the direction to the tree for him, and Kurama gave him a couple more defensive seeds he could use just in case.

They spent that night in one of Kurama's larger dens. It was like walking into a house in Kane's village when the entered, but instead of a boulder with an illusion of a door, the door was a woven sheet of vines which Kurama pulled back to reveal the entrance instead of rock. When they left, Kurama had a sneaking suspicion Kane was done asking for requests because the entire way back she was practically skipping and chattering like he'd given her too much sugar.

The only other time he'd experienced such a chatty Kane was when she was talking about her projects and got on a breakthrough roll. When they finally stopped at Genkai's temple where he could feel Hiei close by, he had to kiss her to shut her up. When he did, she just melted against his chest and tried to tug him back out to the forest rather than in towards people where it would be too public to kiss like she wanted.

"One last thing, remember?"

"Fine," Kane sighed heavily.

Kurama powered down into Shuichi and nodded, taking her hand, "I'll call the others here in a little while."

"Can we spend that little while as we wait..." she tugged him back towards the woods again, kissing his cheek.

"No, come on. Well, it's just Yusuke actually, maybe Shizuru."

Kane nodded and followed him to the temple.


	18. Chapter 18 A Game of Chance

"Hey, since we're all, collected, let's play a game." Yusuke smirked and finished off his beer.

"Oh what kind of game?" Vena grinned.

"A kissing game." He stuck the bottle in the middle of the table and spun it. Keiko caught it, "What?"

"You are not kissing a pregnant lady, a woman who's recently married to Hiei, or a woman who's going to be married to Kurama, and I doubt you want to kiss Shizuru, so unless you plan on kissing Kurama or Hiei themselves, there's no room for a kissing game."

"Where's your sense of fun?" Vena whined, but she glanced at Hiei and smiled.

Hiei was glaring daggers at Yusuke.

"Okay, okay, fine. Let's play 'I Never' then."

"Yukina can't drink."

"So Kuwabara will drink for her whenever she drinks her water."

"That's smart."

"I accept my duty with honor!" Kuwabara beat his chest twice, then coughed and just grinned, picking up two bottles.

Kurama chuckled, "Yusuke, start us off." He grabbed a beer for himself and Kane.

"Never have I ever..." he stared at Hiei skeptically, "wanted to destroy or rule the world."

Kurama groaned and took a sip, "That's not true Yusuke, you fought in the tournament."

"Yeah, because I made the thing, but I made the thing because I didn't want to own the world."

"You're a strange man."

"I wanted a fight! I didn't want to rule that place. My life is here." He smiled at Keiko, who was trying to hide a drink. His mouth fell open. "What?"

"What?" She squeaked back. "I had dreams as a kid okay?"

Vena took a sip and elbowed Hiei.

Hiei grumbled, but sipped as well, followed by Kuwabara and Shizuru.

"Who's next?"

Yusuke spun the bottle in the middle of the table. It landed on Kuwabara, who blinked a few times. He puffed out his chest and smirked, "Never have I ever beat up a woman!" Everyone took a drink and because Yukina had to drink, Kuwabara had to stare at her, mouth gaping, and then take a drink himself. He spun the bottle after a moment of silent disbelief and it landed on Kane.

"My turn? Oh, well, never have I ever..." She frowned. "This is harder than it seems. Um."

"You can pick on people."

She glanced at Kurama, "Well I don't know much about any of them, so I would be picking on you and that seems wrong."

He chuckled, "Just say things that are broad."

"Hm, well, never have I ever ridden in a personal automobile."

Kurama took a drink, grumbling, "My mother's car, Hiei."

"Yeah, yeah," Hiei drank, "His mother's car." Keiko, Shizuru, and Kuwabara drank as well.

This time the bottle landed on Vena.

"Haha," Vena frowned, "Um. Never have I ever been gone sunbathing on purpose?"

Most of the table drank, aside from Yukina and Hiei. Vena spun the bottle and watched it land on Yukina.

"Never have I ever known my sibling."

A round of groans echoed around the table as everyone drank but Yusuke and Keiko, who were only children.

"You have a sibling Hiei?"

"Yeah." Hiei admitted quietly.

"She's very sweet," Kurama smiled, "I've met her before."

"You've met her?" Kuwabara exclaimed in horror. "Wait, when did you meet her?"

"Ooh," Kurama frowned, "About-"

"Shut up Fox."

Kurama chuckled, but held his tongue.

The bottle spun and landed on Kuwabara, who tapped it away from himself, making it land on Kurama.

Kurama frowned, "I've done so much this is very difficult. Oh! Never have I ever kept that I was someone's sibling a secret from them."

Hiei glared at him. "Bastard." he drank. Kane sipped as well, but she didn't elaborate.

"What else would I be?" Kurama purred, spinning the bottle lazily. It landed on Shizuru.

"Never have I ever gotten drunk from a single bottle of beer!" She held up her beer triumphantly.

Yusuke and Kuwabara groaned in unison, and drank. Yukina also drank so Kuwabara had to drink twice. Kurama took a drink and murmured, "Makai beer,"

"Oh, right." Kane, Vena, and Hiei drank as well. The bottle was spun once everyone was done, and it landed on Yusuke, who re-spun it. This time, it landed on Yukina, who respun it as well.

"It's just Hiei and Keiko who haven't gone." Kane commented watching Vena respin it.

Yusuke grabbed it when it landed on him, and set it to point at Keiko. "Done."

Keiko thought for a moment, "Never have I ever been to Demon World."

Everyone drank but Shizuru.

"Hiei, your turn." Yusuke removed the bottle from the table.

Hiei sighed, "Never have I ever lied to my mother."

Kurama's face contorted into pain, "That's depressing." He took a drink.

Everyone else took a drink as well.

"When I was little," Yukina sat forward leaning on the table, "I used to tell my mother I'd grow up hating her for what she did to my brother," she sighed, "I couldn't though, she tried everything to get to him, and just, couldn't."

"Is there a reason you're depressing us Yukina?" Vena groaned.

"Hm? No, Just," she rubbed her tummy, "I'll be able to give these two the life I always wanted."

"Moving on!" Yusuke exclaimed, "Never have I ever," he stared at Kuwabara, "Volunteered to go on a dangerous mission."

Kuwabara, Hiei, and Kurama all drank without hesitation. Kane was more reluctant, but drank after considering it for a while. Vena drank after a few moments.

"Never have I ever had makai beer."

Yukina held her drink up to her lips, but stopped, smirked, and set it back down. "I'm not a fan of the smell."

Most everyone else drank, including Shizuru, but not Keiko.

"When did you have makai beer?" Kurama demanded.

"Chu was very friendly. Good stuff."

Kurama groaned, "God. Kane," he smiled, "your turn."

"Right," she took a breath, "Um. I had one, hold on. Uh. Never have I ever, let's get that out of the way. Um." Her ears fell back, pinning against her head. "Never have I ever missed my parents."

Everyone took a drink. "How come?" Yusuke asked.

"Well my parents are really dicks. Well, one of them is a dick. They just sort of, procreate and abandon us in whatever town they're close to," she shrugged. "I've got families in a lot of different villages, but," she sighed and smiled at Kurama weakly, "You met the one I grew up with. I have more of them, but they don't know I'm their sibling. They just believe their parents drop them off and that's that. I found out by happenstance."

Kurama wrapped an arm around her shoulders and kissed her cheek, nuzzling into it gently.

Kane leaned into his hold, smiling. "I love you," she whispered quietly to him.

"I love you too."

Vena's frown was deep as she thought, "Never have I ever, uh," she looked at Hiei for assistance.

"Gone to the moon?"

She chuckled, "I want to pick on someone."

"Oh, pick on the Fox."

"They're ganging up on you," Kane whispered to Kurama.

"Never have I ever," she sat for a moment, "lied about who I am."

"The fox, not me you idiot," Hiei scolded as he had to drink.

Kurama and Kane took a sip too, "What're you lying about Hiei?"

"Shut up," he barked angrily.

"Yeah Hiei, what're you lying about?" Yusuke snickered.

"Never have I ever had a pregnancy scare."

Vena took a sip, along with Keiko and Shizuru.

Kurama frowned, "Never have I ever been mated to someone after one night."

Hiei sighed and drank. "Fox, if you keep this up I'm going to tell everyone your secrets so you can drink faster."

"I, for one, would like to know his secrets." Shizuru held up her glass.

"Hey, hey," Kurama held up a hand.

"Never have I ever refused to let a trained professional cut my hair, Kurama," Shizuru scolded angrily.

Kurama drank with a wide grin, "I intend to keep it that way. I love my locks."

Keiko chuckled, "Never have I ever left the person I love for three years."

"Define left and love." Yusuke drank as Kane asked for an explanation.

"Left as in, left them for a period of time and love as in romantic love," She glared at Yusuke.

"But are we talking like, a requirement of just you loving them, or both ways only?"

"She did it to jab at Yusuke, Kane. If you think so, drink."

"Well I don't know what she counts as romantic love. I mean, there's a difference isn't there?"

Kurama could hear her getting tipsy. She was speaking more freely now. He sighed, "Kane, please, drink or don't drink."

"Fine."

"Never have I ever," Hiei interrupted, "spoken to my mother." The whole table groaned and whined about that.

Kurama groaned, "Hiei, why is your intent to depress us all? I think we're all aware you haven't done anything with your mother," he rubbed his face.

"Hn. I am going to win this game." Hiei smirked.

Vena sighed and leaned against him, "It is depressing."

"What's depressing?" Hiei asked, completely unaware.

"All this mom stuff with you."

"Why?"

"Hiei, why haven't you spoken to your mother before?"

Hiei stared at Yukina with a stiff face. "I- uh, I never met her, not when I was old enough to speak with her anyway." He shrugged.

"Is she dead?" Vena asked softly.

"Yeah."

"Agh, even more depressing," Vena sighed heavier.

"What about your father?"

Hiei's eyes lit up, "You're right! I'm using him next round." He settled in with a grin staring at the fox. "You had your human father for a couple years, long enough to interact with him before you or whatever happened, and in your other life too."

Vena gave him a long stare, "Really?"

"What? I'm winning."

She held up her beer, it was nearly empty.

"You're fine." Hiei kissed her and pulled her up against his side.

Vena grabbed his beer, "If I chugged this, would you lose?"

"It doesn't work like that, you got to get drunk." Yusuke explained. "First one too drunk to function right loses. It's a drinking game."

"Oh. Well," Vena held up the bottle to Hiei's lip.

"Hey, stop that," Hiei snagged it from her. "You, have to stay sober so I can feed you things about Kurama to use against him so he loses. The damn fox always wins this fucking game."

"Hiei, if you keep using depressing things I might pick on you."

"Fuck it. Never have I ever been to Koorime Isle."

Hiei's face fell as he stared at the detective.

Yukina drank, staring at Hiei, "What's wrong Hiei?"

Hiei stared at his cup for a long time, then sighed and drank.

Yukina frowned, "You've been to my homeland?"

Hiei nodded. He didn't elaborate.

"Why'd you go Hiei?" Kurama asked.

"It doesn't matter." Hiei rolled his eyes.

"I'd like to know."

"But, men aren't allowed… the only man who's… when… Hiei, when were you there? How old are you?" Yukina asked. She nibbled on her sleeve staring at him, her eyes wide and wet.

"He's one hundred!" Yusuke grinned.

Yukina glanced to Yusuke and sniffed, "Y-you… You're my-" She swallowed trying to contain her tears.

"Honey, what's going on?" Kuwabara wrapped a soft arm around her.

"Don't touch me! You knew didn't you? You knew he was right here this whole time and you didn't tell me!" She shoved Kuwabara away and stood as she screamed at him. Kuwabara stared up at her in shock.

"Actually Kuwabara's been in the dark for a long time Yukina." Kurama explained.

"You! All of you! All of you knew! How could you do this to me?" Tears fell from her cheeks as she struggled to keep herself in check, failing.

"Because we care about Hiei's wellbeing," Kurama sighed, "Oh dear." He stood and approached the small woman, "Yukina, it's alright."

"No! It's not! You don't understand!"

"Yukina, please! You've got to calm down," Kuwabara grabbed her arms again.

She shoved him away again, glaring at him angrily. "I will not calm down!"

"He's right, Yukina, this could be dangerous for your children."

"My children are none of your concern! I can't believe you would do this to me! I thought you were my friends! He's my brother! He's my brother who I've been searching for all this time! The one who I came to Human World to find! He was right there and none of you told me!"

"Yukina, to be honest, we all thought you sort of knew," Kurama held up his hands.

"No! I didn't know!" Yukina wailed in anger.

Vena felt Hiei shivering and grab her leg squeezing hard as he watched Yukina scream.

"Yukina, we have valid reasons for this." Kurama sighed.

"There is no reason for you to ever keep something like that from me! It's the one thing I wanted for years, it's the only thing I ever asked from all of you and it's the one thing you've denied me? Kazuma's the only decent one out of all of you! How could you keep this from him? He's one of you! He's your friend!"

"Not even if it meant your brother would probably never see you again? Never talk to you again?" Kurama offered.

"No! Hiei and I haven't always been on speaking terms but we've always been there for each other when we need to be, and I have faith that despite all of you doing this horrible thing, that won't change!"

"Yukina, the time was never right to tell you."

"The time," She scoffed, "The time was never right when I asked? When I came to you asking if you'd heard news about my brother when you came back from Demon World? When you first met me and I asked if you'd ever met him? If anyone you'd ever known had ever had a koorime birthing tear gem?"

"Yukina, you have to understand, I never lied to you. I just didn't tell you the full truth."

"Yukina," Yusuke stood, "Hey, you're not doing any good yelling about this."

"And you! You! How could you do this to him? He clearly was not ready for me to learn, now that I know why he's always yelling at Kurama to shut up! Why he's always so upset with you when you start talking about his family! I can't believe you would do this to him just for a stupid game!"

"It wasn't a game. It was pushing Hiei into telling you himself, because that's the only person who should tell you."

"It's was about the game," Yukina denied, "It was about Hiei winning because he has been through a horrible situation, rejected by an entire society and you all couldn't take that fact and consider maybe he was finally having fun in a society that didn't hurt and reject him! No, instead, you had to shatter that by dragging in his old past and exposing it to all of us!"

"That's what you wanted Yukina." Kurama took his seat heavily.

Hiei pressed his head against Vena's, his nerves shot through. Each heightened voice Yukina wailed at them, the more his heart pounded in his chest, and the more he closed himself up like a disposable rag trying to listen, but wincing and jerking at each exclamation.

"Yukina," Vena offered softly.

"You, you knew too didn't you? You knew because Hiei came here to help his sister and you were dragged along, and despite all of that, you left him."

"Yukina, you're upsetting him." Vena wrapped her arms around Hiei and leaned against him, "He told me when he was sick, but said not to tell anyone, so I didn't."

Yukina crossed her arms over her pregnant self and shook her head staring at the lot of them.

"What do you expect us to do Yukina?" Kurama asked.

"I don't know, I have no idea what to expect from any of you any more. You've all lied to me so well for so long." She sniffed as the thoughts came rolling back. She grabbed for Kuwabara searching out his arms and settled into them quickly. "Oh god, Hiei's been here all this time and I haven't even known? How could I not know? He's my brother, I should have been able to tell he was my brother! How could I not… not see it?"

"And this is why I'm never getting pregnant," Vena offered Hiei.

"Can we go?" Hiei asked quietly, almost too quiet for Vena to hear.

"You want to leave?"

"Y-" He winced as Yukina wailed loudly. "Yes"

Yukina spurted up from Kuwabara and crossed to them, "Oh Hiei! I'm so sorry, I'm so so sorry!" She wrapped him in a hug as best she could, including Vena because Hiei was so close to her. "I'm so sorry I didn't understand. I always thought you were just, Oh, lords be." She wiped at her face, "You're my brother, that's why you want to keep me safe, that's why you're here. I'm pregnant with your nieces." She laughed, "You're protecting your family."

Hiei pushed himself up softly, avoiding Yukina as best he could, and marched decidedly away from the two of them heading straight for a door. Vena could feel that it took all of his effort not to run.

"Hiei!" Vena yelped, "Hey, we just can't leave like this!"

"Hiei what's wrong? Why are you leaving?" Yukina asked following him. She tried to take his arm but he shrugged away from her and pushed beyond the ten foot limit. His hand shook as he grabbed the handle.

"Because he's uncomfortable, Yukina."

"Give him time, It's a lot to process," Kurama suggested.

Kuwabara wrapped his arms around Yukina and kept her from following Hiei out the door. Vena hurried after him.

When she caught up, he was leaning against the rail panting heavily. His eyes raced across her checking her for injuries before he grabbed her hand and pulled her close, grabbing her shoulders once he had her facing him. "Go in my shadow."

"Hiei."

"Vena, please." He held her tightly.

"I don't think this is the right thing to do."

"Vena," he whined at her, "I need… I need this."

"Where are we going?"

"Don't ask, just, just get in."

"Hiei." She sighed, "At least tell her how you feel? Are you going to kill everyone in that room?"

"Vena!" He shouted loudly.

"I asked you some questions!" Vena barked back.

"Fine! I'll just do this without you!" Hiei snapped in response and started away from her, breaking into a sprint as he reached the edge of his limits.

"Hiei!" Vena yelped, hurrying to catch up with him, "Don't be an idiot!"

He didn't stop, he even gained ground between them, despite stumbling and tripping on occasion, he stayed ploughing forward as fast as he could with the weight of everything on his back. Eventually Vena gave up chasing after him and vanished.

When she did, Hiei stumbled and fell into the mud from the sudden change in his emotional status. He nearly ran into a tree as he stood, and began to bolt as fast as he could through the trees just moving. He finally stopped at the foot of the mountains at the edge of Genkai's land. He'd stumbled again, but this time, he didn't get back up, he let his breath heave like he'd just run ten marathons back to back, and let his pain mellow and hollow from it's ripened age.

Vena wasn't fast coming back out. It was a good ten minutes before she appeared beside him with a heavy sigh.

Hiei didn't look up at her, just rolled from his hands and knees to his back still panting for breath.

Vena rested her head on her knees, "Idiot."

"I just, couldn't take that."

"I don't think leaving like that fixed anything."

"It fixed me," he offered between pants. He shut his eyes long enough to focus on her and start the connection again.

"It might've fixed you but I have a feeling everything in that temple got a hundred times worse."

Hiei shook his head, "I don't care. I couldn't stay there. I couldn't… I don't even know what it means to be a brother to someone Vena, I can't just be called one once and know what that means."

"It just means everything you were Hiei. You protect your sister and care about her, you make sure no one's hurting her, and that she isn't hurting herself." She reached out to pet his hair, "Nothing that different."

"Well it can't mean everything I am!" Hiei screamed loudly, pushing himself up and swiping at her arm to push her away, "I am- I'm nothing to her. I'm just a guy who shows up at the last possible second when everyone else is too fucking slow."

Vena pushed him back, "Hiei, she really does like you."

"She shouldn't!"

"Why not?"

"I ruined her life Vena, I ruined it!"

"How did you ruin her life?"

"She would be a normal person in a normal family in her society if it wasn't for me. She never would have gotten kidnapped if her mother had never died, and her mother would have never died if I hadn't been born."

"The society that you loath, the society that's frozen?"

"Yeah well I wouldn't be around to loath it if I hadn't fucked up her life!"

Vena slapped him across the face, "Hiei!"

His eyes shut involuntarily and he held his cheek, his jaw cracking back into place.

"Get a hold of yourself! Stop loathing your stupid existence and make something out of it! Obviously you're here to protect Yukina you stupid numbskull!"

"The only reason I came to protect Yukina was because that god damn oaf can't do it alone!"

"No! It's also because you care about her Hiei! If you didn't care about her, you wouldn't have done it!"

"If I didn't ruin her life I wouldn't care about her, but I did, so I do, because I owe her my life! I've caused that woman so much pain, so much heartache, taken her away from so much, that I owe her a happily ever after no matter what it does to me!"

"You can fix that! Go back there and be the brother you are!"

"A brother is not what she needs! Not me anyways."

"Then go back there and be whatever she needs."

"She doesn't need me! Not with all of those fools surrounding her. God! Why am I even arguing about this?" Hiei wheeled away from her and stomped to the edge of his perimeter, he folded his arms over his chest and stared into the woods, his head hanging, but not down.

Vena sighed heavily and flopped onto her back, "Idiot."

"Plenty of people live without having siblings!"

"That doesn't mean they should live without siblings, it just means they do."

"We're beyond the age where any of that matters. God, Vena, I don't know what I'm doing but I can't go back there, not right now."

"I don't know what you're doing either Hiei."

"I said don't make me go back there!" He snapped at her despite her saying nothing of the sort. It felt like he was submerged beneath a mountain of water and every time he broke the surface, he was drowned in the thunder and the rain.

"I didn't say anything about going back there!"

"Well I'm not doing it! Not right now. Maybe after everything, maybe after she forgets, but I'm not going inside. She can't- I don't even. I can't be the same failure in person as I am in her imagination."

"She'll never forget." Vena told him bluntly.

"Do you know what she told me once? She told me that I was what she imagined her brother would be like, her brother, like me! God of all the people, she imagined her brother as some murdering, vicious man who couldn't even properly show affection!"

"Hiei, that's a compliment. That means she likes you and thinks you're a good person. And with everything you're saying I really want to punch you."

"Well I'm a dick who deserves to get punched," he turned his back on her again.

"Then I'd gladly punch you."

"It doesn't matter if she says she accepts me or not, she's going to want to learn about me, and watch me, and touch me, and all of that other bullshit like talk," He groaned and and crouched grabbing his ears as he huddled up.

"Oh my god Hiei!" Vena got to her feet and smacked him upside the head.

He winced and shied away from her, but just stared up at her like she'd told him to take out the trash rather than something offensive to him.

"She knows now, so what are you going to do?"

"I'm never going to enter her presence again, that's what I'm going to do. I'll just, protect her from the woods until she has-"

Vena smacked him again.

"What! It's the only option!"

"No it's not! You'll cause her more heartache than ever by never seeing her again you idiot! She wants you in her life!"

"Well I can't be that for her!"

Vena smacked him again, harder this time, "Yes you can! You already were!"

"No I wasn't! If it wasn't for your ass dragging me inside I never would have stepped foot in the temple!"

"Hiei, I find it hard to believe Hiei Jaganshi is sitting here huddled in a tiny little ball over his sister! Hiei, that's pathetic!"

"Then leave!" Hiei shot upright yelling loudly at her. "Just go away! Get out of here! If you hate me so much then go!"

"I don't hate you, I'm trying to get through your thick skull!"

"You don't understand." Hiei turned away from her, leaving his back exposed to her again.

"No, I don't. And you know what we're doing Hiei?"

"No, because every time I think I have a plan, you smack me and tell me it's not a plan."

Vena grabbed his arm and they were in the shadow world in an instant, "We're walking, that's what we're doing."

She felt Hiei's mind halt dead through all of the crazy thoughts and rampant fears, his brain silenced when they entered the shadow world, and he stared at her like he saw a ghost.

"I know, human shadows are weird, but come on."

"You're..." Hiei stepped away from her, fear flitting through his body as hot as a searing knife. "You're going to… You're really going to leave me aren't you? You're going to lock me up in one of these shadows and leave and I'll be stuck here."

Vena laughed loudly, so loudly that she doubled over, smacking her legs, "Oh my god you really are an idiot!"

Hiei looked out around the vacant prison he was going to be calling home for however long Vena decided to save him before she fed him to whatever the movements were in the dark, and felt his chest cleave. How could she do this to him?

"Hiei, I'm not leaving you here." Vena explained as she straightened up, wiping at her cheeks.

He wasn't amused, he heard her, but she felt how incredulous he was, how closed he was becoming, like all the doors they'd slowly opened through their night of love were shutting, tottering dominoes falling over.

"I had something else in mind actually," She walked over to him and offered her hand.

He didn't take it, just watched.

"If I left you in here, you'd rot pretty quickly because these are Human World shadows. I'm not going to trap you in any shadow ever unless it's to conserve your life."

"But you don't want me. I'm too weak, too pathetic. I've shown you the rot beneath my armor and you're..."

Vena groaned, "No Hiei, I want you, but I want you to start thinking too."

"I am thinking and everything I think says the same thing! You're going to trap me somewhere so you don't have to deal with me any more and I can die and you'll be free of this pathetic whelp you caught on accident."

"If you die, I'm going to die too. That was the whole point of the bonding we did."

He jerked back from her like she was acid, "Why the hell didn't you tell me that!" he screamed as loud as he could, it practically echoed in the shadows.

"What's so wrong with that?"

"Oh I don't know, I routinely use my body as a shield and almost die! I play with death every time I use my jagan! I am tempting it each moment I am too far away from you! Oh, and I get eaten by a fucking dragon of fire!"

"I did it so if you ever died, I wouldn't have to live through it. I already knew you'd probably die if I died because of depression or something else."

"That's not how it's supposed to work! I don't want to die with my last thought being that I not only was stupid enough to get killed, but that I was stupid enough to kill the only woman I'll ever love!"

"But I don't think you'd like watching me trap myself in shadows until I died."

"God, Vena, why the hell did you do this? I don't want to kill you!" he started pacing.

"Because I can't really imagine living without you?"

"You could have found someone! You're a smart, beautiful woman who can kick ass, someone would come along and save you from that hell."

"But what if I didn't want to find someone else Hiei!"

"You don't deserve to have your life cut short by some stupid pathetic fool who can't even stand up to a koorime!"

"We can't undo it."

Hiei sighed heavily and stopped, staring at her, "Never assume I know something, chances are, I don't. I just kill people, I don't understand demon society."

"Well, I was going to tell you because I was starting to think you didn't know when Kurama had to explain the whole openness, but I decided not to until now."

"Is there anything else this bond does?"

"Well normally you get some kind of mark that's a symbol of your mate." She shrugged, "I really haven't been able to find mine, it's somewhere I can't see it."

"I haven't looked. So the bond gives us a mark, binds our lives together, and makes us able to feel what each other are feeling."

"Yep." She stepped forward, "I can try to find your mark, but I'm not sure what it'd look like."

Hiei sighed and shook his head, "Not a good idea." he squoze his bandaged hand.

"Why not? Oh. Um, well," she shrugged.

"If it's wrapped up with the dragon it could get loose while you look."

"I have a feeling it's not." She shook her head and tugged on his cloak.

"Yeah, well, mine is probably the dragon somewhere on you." He wrapped an arm over her shoulder and put his other hand on her hip.

"Probably," she agreed, stepping closer to snuggle up to him.

"Vena, I can't go back there right now."

"Hm?"

"Back to her. I don't even know if she'd want me there."

Vena sighed and rested her head against his shoulder, "Shut up about it Hiei."

Hiei sighed and wrapped his lower arm around her back.

Vena flicked his cloak off and let it fall.

"Stop, stop," Hiei let her go and stepped back, grabbing his cloak back up again.

"Why?"

"Not right now." He flicked it back on again and buried his arms inside.

"I'm trying to distract you."

"Well right now I don't want to be that vulnerable."

Vena sighed, "Then you can find it on me," with that she started slipping her shoes off.

"Vena, I'm pretty positive it's the dragon. The dragon sort of embodies my energy after I ate it."

"Well I want you to find it," Vena fumbled with her pants.

"If you haven't seen it," he turned her around and hooked a finger under her shirt, tugging it up. When he started exposing her back, he traced back and forth along her spine all the way up to the base of her neck on her back. "Right here."

Vena shivered and sighed in delight, "That feels nice."

Hiei sighed, "Well I don't want to go back."

"I don't know what to do then Hiei." Vena stepped away from him and pulled her shirt down, crossing her arms, "So, do you still think I'm trapping you here?"

He sighed and shook his head, "I don't know what to think. We're safer in here than out there though."

Vena turned to look at him, "You're not pathetic Hiei."

"You say that but I am. I was excited to finally be able to win a game when all it proved was something that should have never come to light. I can't handle something as simple as having a sister, which millions of people do, sometimes more than once. You were right to call me pathetic."

"You're not pathetic Hiei, I was just frustrated with you."

"Because I'm pathetic," he countered.

"Say that one more time Hiei." Vena snapped, "You're not pathetic."

"Vena, how many demons do you know who are afraid of social relationships with people other than ones they can kill?"

"Several actually. Shadow demons tend to be pretty insecure around other types of demons."

He sighed and wandered away from her.

Vena followed him, "Don't you think if you were really that pathetic I'd just kill us both?"

He nodded, "That's why I can't decide if you're going to lock me in here or not. If you do, you can just go on living and I'll be stuck in whatever shadow you want to maintain unable to interrupt."

"I'm not going to." Vena hurried forward and grabbed his arm. They were back in Human World, "See?"

Hiei stiffened and stepped back, away from whatever he was staring at over her shoulder. The crunch of gravel made Vena realize they weren't quite where they'd left Human World.

"Shit," Vena whined, "I didn't mean to do this Hiei. Human World shadows move very quickly. I didn't expect we'd get dropped off here."

"Hiei you came back!" Yukina raced out of the temple and ran towards them, a huge smile on her face.

Hiei grabbed Vena's arm and dragged her back several feet.

"Yukina, stop!" Vena barked.

The pregnant woman took a few more steps, but did as Vena suggested.

"We came back on accident. Hiei doesn't want to be here."

"But you are here. You're here and we can make this right! We can be together now."

"Hiei doesn't want to be here."

"How could he-. He doesn't love me?"

"No, it's not that," Hiei shook his head.

"Then what is it?" Yukina demanded. Kuwabara made it to her side and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, holding them.

"I just…." He stared at Vena, not sure what to say.

"He's uncomfortable. He doesn't think he's a good brother."

"Nonsense!" Yukina waved him off and laughed. "You're the best I could ever wish for Hiei."

That stung. Vena wasn't sure why, but it hurt Hiei to hear that, he gripped her arm tighter and leaned away.

"That hurt him."

"She doesn't need to know everything I'm feeling! Just because you know doesn't mean you have the right to share!"

"Hurt, him? Why does that hurt?"

"I don't know."

He scoffed and shook his head, "I'm not getting into this debate right now."

"Hiei, is everything alright?" Kurama came out of the temple.

"No," Vena answered.

The fox crossed the driveway and despite Hiei's uncomfortable nervousness about him approaching, he didn't move away, just glared. "Hiei, what's going on?" Kurama asked quietly. "She loves you, she accepts you, what's wrong?"

"He thinks he's pathetic."

"God woman, shut up!"

"Hiei?" Kurama requested again.

Hiei sighed heavily and dragged Vena towards the woods. The three of them crossed into the shadows of the trees and slowed until they came to a clearing where just grass poked up through the dead undergrowth and stumps. "Hiei?"

"What!"

"What's wrong?"

"What isn't wrong? Apparently she's going to die when I do, and Yukina is going to expect me to know what the hell families are, and then she's going to want me to be a brother to her, which means interacting with her, and actually letting her see me, and touch me, and talk to me, and I didn't even want her to know I was protecting her, but that didn't happen and now I have to deal with her always worrying about me, or trying to do things with me, and complaining when I'm not around."

"Yes, she is going to die when you do. No Hiei, Yukina just wants you close. She just wants your presence. She needs your support right now. Eventually, she might want that, but really Hiei, she just wants you near."

"Well I don't want to be near her! The closer we are, the more likely someone's going to mark her as a target and kidnap her again."

"You're breaking her heart with this Hiei. She was really upset when you left."

"I don't want to break her heart by being a stupid ass!"

"Then go over there, and be with your sister Hiei!"

"Don't you see where this is going to go? I'm going to be with her for however long it's convenient and then she's going to expect me to realize something and I won't, and then she's going to expect me to understand something, or do something, and I won't, and eventually I'll tally up enough of these things that she'll start to realize just how fucked up I am and she'll never want me near anything to do with her again!"

"No Hiei, just spend time with her. You'll learn anything you need to know. You are fucked up," Kurama chuckled, "But she loves you."

"She doesn't have room for me. She's going to have kids. She's literally creating children as we speak. I can't fuck up them too."

"The temple has plenty of room. You don't have to stay forever. Just stay until a few months after the children are born Hiei."

"No, I'm not going to make her children bloodthirsty monsters."

"No you're not Hiei. Stop, really. What happens when you knock Vena up?"

"I'm not going to knock Vena up! She doesn't want kids!"

"Surprises happen Hiei. Are you just going to crawl under a rock if it does happen? No, you won't. Hiei, you are one of the bravest people I know, so walk your ass over to your sister."

"Don't you see how much harder it's going to be if we actually interact Kurama? Why can't you understand this!"

"You don't have to interact. She just wants you there."

"Yeah, well that's a whole hell of a lot more than she ever wanted before!"

Kurama sighed, "No. Not really Hiei."

"Yes it is, she never needed me anywhere, or wanted me anywhere before."

"She didn't want you to kill that man. That was asking a lot of you."

"She was asking a stranger not to kill in front of her, that's all."

"Hiei, you're not going to mess this up."

"I already have!"

Vena smacked his chest, "Would you stop? Just, come on!" She started dragging him forward.

Hiei dug his feet in as best he could. Kurama grabbed the two of them and dragged them back to the little clearing, "Hiei, do you see this woman right here?" He pointed at Vena, letting her go.

"What about her," he tried to free himself from Kurama, but couldn't.

"Vena, unlike you, knows what to do with siblings, she knows what to do with politics, she knows what to do with stupid bosses who are trying to sexually assault their subjects, and, guess what, she knows what to do with people. I'm right, right?" Kurama asked Vena.

"Yeah," Vena nodded.

"Hiei, do you agree."

"How the fuck should I know?"

"Well you found her in a city that loved her, she has siblings, and she protected you from Mukuro, oh, and she's never made a fool of herself in public that I've heard about."

"Fine, yes, I agree Fox, now get on with it."

"If you," he snagged Vena's wrist and put their hands together, "take her to be your lawfully wedded guide, then she, will not lead you wrong."

Vena nodded, "I wouldn't."

"So just, trust in the woman you love, the one you picked out of everyone else in the world, and let her fill these things you feel you lack."

"I can interact with Yukina." Vena offered.

Hiei stared at her, "But she's going to want me to do things I don't understand."

"And you have a Jagan. Use it."

"You can understand, if you want." Vena chuckled, "Remember our first night together? When you got attached to me as a mate? You didn't understand a lot of what I wanted, but you figured it out and we had a great time."

Hiei flushed and ducked his chin staring up at her with wider eyes.

"Really! You figured it out! You found out what I liked and didn't like and used that to understand what I wanted."

"But I had your noises to guide me. I'm not going to have any sort of reaction from Yukina that's clear like that."

Vena chuckled, "So use your head," she tugged on his bandanna, "Like Kurama said."

"Exactly. If you get lost, ask Vena, she'll tell you what to do. Does that sound like something you can do Hiei?" Kurama released the two of them so they were holding hands still.

Hiei stepped closer to Vena, "Fine, but only because of her, not because you came up with this stupid idea. It's probably the worst one I've heard in a long fucking time Fox."

Vena giggled and kissed him on the lips, dragging him towards the temple.


	19. Chapter 19 A Game of Chance

"Hey, since we're all, collected, let's play a game." Yusuke smirked and finished off his beer.

"Oh what kind of game?" Vena grinned.

"A kissing game." He stuck the bottle in the middle of the table and spun it. Keiko caught it, "What?"

"You are not kissing a pregnant lady, a woman who's recently married to Hiei, or a woman who's going to be married to Kurama, and I doubt you want to kiss Shizuru, so unless you plan on kissing Kurama or Hiei themselves, there's no room for a kissing game."

"Where's your sense of fun?" Vena whined, but she glanced at Hiei and smiled.

Hiei was glaring daggers at Yusuke.

"Okay, okay, fine. Let's play 'I Never' then."

"Yukina can't drink."

"So Kuwabara will drink for her whenever she drinks her water."

"That's smart."

"I accept my duty with honor!" Kuwabara beat his chest twice, then coughed and just grinned, picking up two bottles.

Kurama chuckled, "Yusuke, start us off." He grabbed a beer for himself and Kane.

"Never have I ever..." he stared at Hiei skeptically, "wanted to destroy or rule the world."

Kurama groaned and took a sip, "That's not true Yusuke, you fought in the tournament."

"Yeah, because I made the thing, but I made the thing because I didn't want to own the world."

"You're a strange man."

"I wanted a fight! I didn't want to rule that place. My life is here." He smiled at Keiko, who was trying to hide a drink. His mouth fell open. "What?"

"What?" She squeaked back. "I had dreams as a kid okay?"

Vena took a sip and elbowed Hiei.

Hiei grumbled, but sipped as well, followed by Kuwabara and Shizuru.

"Who's next?"

Yusuke spun the bottle in the middle of the table. It landed on Kuwabara, who blinked a few times. He puffed out his chest and smirked, "Never have I ever beat up a woman!" Everyone took a drink and because Yukina had to drink, Kuwabara had to stare at her, mouth gaping, and then take a drink himself. He spun the bottle after a moment of silent disbelief and it landed on Kane.

"My turn? Oh, well, never have I ever..." She frowned. "This is harder than it seems. Um."

"You can pick on people."

She glanced at Kurama, "Well I don't know much about any of them, so I would be picking on you and that seems wrong."

He chuckled, "Just say things that are broad."

"Hm, well, never have I ever ridden in a personal automobile."

Kurama took a drink, grumbling, "My mother's car, Hiei."

"Yeah, yeah," Hiei drank, "His mother's car." Keiko, Shizuru, and Kuwabara drank as well.

This time the bottle landed on Vena.

"Haha," Vena frowned, "Um. Never have I ever been gone sunbathing on purpose?"

Most of the table drank, aside from Yukina and Hiei. Vena spun the bottle and watched it land on Yukina.

"Never have I ever known my sibling."

A round of groans echoed around the table as everyone drank but Yusuke and Keiko, who were only children.

"You have a sibling Hiei?"

"Yeah." Hiei admitted quietly.

"She's very sweet," Kurama smiled, "I've met her before."

"You've met her?" Kuwabara exclaimed in horror. "Wait, when did you meet her?"

"Ooh," Kurama frowned, "About-"

"Shut up Fox."

Kurama chuckled, but held his tongue.

The bottle spun and landed on Kuwabara, who tapped it away from himself, making it land on Kurama.

Kurama frowned, "I've done so much this is very difficult. Oh! Never have I ever kept that I was someone's sibling a secret from them."

Hiei glared at him. "Bastard." he drank. Kane sipped as well, but she didn't elaborate.

"What else would I be?" Kurama purred, spinning the bottle lazily. It landed on Shizuru.

"Never have I ever gotten drunk from a single bottle of beer!" She held up her beer triumphantly.

Yusuke and Kuwabara groaned in unison, and drank. Yukina also drank so Kuwabara had to drink twice. Kurama took a drink and murmured, "Makai beer,"

"Oh, right." Kane, Vena, and Hiei drank as well. The bottle was spun once everyone was done, and it landed on Yusuke, who re-spun it. This time, it landed on Yukina, who respun it as well.

"It's just Hiei and Keiko who haven't gone." Kane commented watching Vena respin it.

Yusuke grabbed it when it landed on him, and set it to point at Keiko. "Done."

Keiko thought for a moment, "Never have I ever been to Demon World."

Everyone drank but Shizuru.

"Hiei, your turn." Yusuke removed the bottle from the table.

Hiei sighed, "Never have I ever lied to my mother."

Kurama's face contorted into pain, "That's depressing." He took a drink.

Everyone else took a drink as well.

"When I was little," Yukina sat forward leaning on the table, "I used to tell my mother I'd grow up hating her for what she did to my brother," she sighed, "I couldn't though, she tried everything to get to him, and just, couldn't."

"Is there a reason you're depressing us Yukina?" Vena groaned.

"Hm? No, Just," she rubbed her tummy, "I'll be able to give these two the life I always wanted."

"Moving on!" Yusuke exclaimed, "Never have I ever," he stared at Kuwabara, "Volunteered to go on a dangerous mission."

Kuwabara, Hiei, and Kurama all drank without hesitation. Kane was more reluctant, but drank after considering it for a while. Vena drank after a few moments.

"Never have I ever had makai beer."

Yukina held her drink up to her lips, but stopped, smirked, and set it back down. "I'm not a fan of the smell."

Most everyone else drank, including Shizuru, but not Keiko.

"When did you have makai beer?" Kurama demanded.

"Chu was very friendly. Good stuff."

Kurama groaned, "God. Kane," he smiled, "your turn."

"Right," she took a breath, "Um. I had one, hold on. Uh. Never have I ever, let's get that out of the way. Um." Her ears fell back, pinning against her head. "Never have I ever missed my parents."

Everyone took a drink. "How come?" Yusuke asked.

"Well my parents are really dicks. Well, one of them is a dick. They just sort of, procreate and abandon us in whatever town they're close to," she shrugged. "I've got families in a lot of different villages, but," she sighed and smiled at Kurama weakly, "You met the one I grew up with. I have more of them, but they don't know I'm their sibling. They just believe their parents drop them off and that's that. I found out by happenstance."

Kurama wrapped an arm around her shoulders and kissed her cheek, nuzzling into it gently.

Kane leaned into his hold, smiling. "I love you," she whispered quietly to him.

"I love you too."

Vena's frown was deep as she thought, "Never have I ever, uh," she looked at Hiei for assistance.

"Gone to the moon?"

She chuckled, "I want to pick on someone."

"Oh, pick on the Fox."

"They're ganging up on you," Kane whispered to Kurama.

"Never have I ever," she sat for a moment, "lied about who I am."

"The fox, not me you idiot," Hiei scolded as he had to drink.

Kurama and Kane took a sip too, "What're you lying about Hiei?"

"Shut up," he barked angrily.

"Yeah Hiei, what're you lying about?" Yusuke snickered.

"Never have I ever had a pregnancy scare."

Vena took a sip, along with Keiko and Shizuru.

Kurama frowned, "Never have I ever been mated to someone after one night."

Hiei sighed and drank. "Fox, if you keep this up I'm going to tell everyone your secrets so you can drink faster."

"I, for one, would like to know his secrets." Shizuru held up her glass.

"Hey, hey," Kurama held up a hand.

"Never have I ever refused to let a trained professional cut my hair, Kurama," Shizuru scolded angrily.

Kurama drank with a wide grin, "I intend to keep it that way. I love my locks."

Keiko chuckled, "Never have I ever left the person I love for three years."

"Define left and love." Yusuke drank as Kane asked for an explanation.

"Left as in, left them for a period of time and love as in romantic love," She glared at Yusuke.

"But are we talking like, a requirement of just you loving them, or both ways only?"

"She did it to jab at Yusuke, Kane. If you think so, drink."

"Well I don't know what she counts as romantic love. I mean, there's a difference isn't there?"

Kurama could hear her getting tipsy. She was speaking more freely now. He sighed, "Kane, please, drink or don't drink."

"Fine."

"Never have I ever," Hiei interrupted, "spoken to my mother." The whole table groaned and whined about that.

Kurama groaned, "Hiei, why is your intent to depress us all? I think we're all aware you haven't done anything with your mother," he rubbed his face.

"Hn. I am going to win this game." Hiei smirked.

Vena sighed and leaned against him, "It is depressing."

"What's depressing?" Hiei asked, completely unaware.

"All this mom stuff with you."

"Why?"

"Hiei, why haven't you spoken to your mother before?"

Hiei stared at Yukina with a stiff face. "I- uh, I never met her, not when I was old enough to speak with her anyway." He shrugged.

"Is she dead?" Vena asked softly.

"Yeah."

"Agh, even more depressing," Vena sighed heavier.

"What about your father?"

Hiei's eyes lit up, "You're right! I'm using him next round." He settled in with a grin staring at the fox. "You had your human father for a couple years, long enough to interact with him before you or whatever happened, and in your other life too."

Vena gave him a long stare, "Really?"

"What? I'm winning."

She held up her beer, it was nearly empty.

"You're fine." Hiei kissed her and pulled her up against his side.

Vena grabbed his beer, "If I chugged this, would you lose?"

"It doesn't work like that, you got to get drunk." Yusuke explained. "First one too drunk to function right loses. It's a drinking game."

"Oh. Well," Vena held up the bottle to Hiei's lip.

"Hey, stop that," Hiei snagged it from her. "You, have to stay sober so I can feed you things about Kurama to use against him so he loses. The damn fox always wins this fucking game."

"Hiei, if you keep using depressing things I might pick on you."

"Fuck it. Never have I ever been to Koorime Isle."

Hiei's face fell as he stared at the detective.

Yukina drank, staring at Hiei, "What's wrong Hiei?"

Hiei stared at his cup for a long time, then sighed and drank.

Yukina frowned, "You've been to my homeland?"

Hiei nodded. He didn't elaborate.

"Why'd you go Hiei?" Kurama asked.

"It doesn't matter." Hiei rolled his eyes.

"I'd like to know."

"But, men aren't allowed… the only man who's… when… Hiei, when were you there? How old are you?" Yukina asked. She nibbled on her sleeve staring at him, her eyes wide and wet.

"He's one hundred!" Yusuke grinned.

Yukina glanced to Yusuke and sniffed, "Y-you… You're my-" She swallowed trying to contain her tears.

"Honey, what's going on?" Kuwabara wrapped a soft arm around her.

"Don't touch me! You knew didn't you? You knew he was right here this whole time and you didn't tell me!" She shoved Kuwabara away and stood as she screamed at him. Kuwabara stared up at her in shock.

"Actually Kuwabara's been in the dark for a long time Yukina." Kurama explained.

"You! All of you! All of you knew! How could you do this to me?" Tears fell from her cheeks as she struggled to keep herself in check, failing.

"Because we care about Hiei's wellbeing," Kurama sighed, "Oh dear." He stood and approached the small woman, "Yukina, it's alright."

"No! It's not! You don't understand!"

"Yukina, please! You've got to calm down," Kuwabara grabbed her arms again.

She shoved him away again, glaring at him angrily. "I will not calm down!"

"He's right, Yukina, this could be dangerous for your children."

"My children are none of your concern! I can't believe you would do this to me! I thought you were my friends! He's my brother! He's my brother who I've been searching for all this time! The one who I came to Human World to find! He was right there and none of you told me!"

"Yukina, to be honest, we all thought you sort of knew," Kurama held up his hands.

"No! I didn't know!" Yukina wailed in anger.

Vena felt Hiei shivering and grab her leg squeezing hard as he watched Yukina scream.

"Yukina, we have valid reasons for this." Kurama sighed.

"There is no reason for you to ever keep something like that from me! It's the one thing I wanted for years, it's the only thing I ever asked from all of you and it's the one thing you've denied me? Kazuma's the only decent one out of all of you! How could you keep this from him? He's one of you! He's your friend!"

"Not even if it meant your brother would probably never see you again? Never talk to you again?" Kurama offered.

"No! Hiei and I haven't always been on speaking terms but we've always been there for each other when we need to be, and I have faith that despite all of you doing this horrible thing, that won't change!"

"Yukina, the time was never right to tell you."

"The time," She scoffed, "The time was never right when I asked? When I came to you asking if you'd heard news about my brother when you came back from Demon World? When you first met me and I asked if you'd ever met him? If anyone you'd ever known had ever had a koorime birthing tear gem?"

"Yukina, you have to understand, I never lied to you. I just didn't tell you the full truth."

"Yukina," Yusuke stood, "Hey, you're not doing any good yelling about this."

"And you! You! How could you do this to him? He clearly was not ready for me to learn, now that I know why he's always yelling at Kurama to shut up! Why he's always so upset with you when you start talking about his family! I can't believe you would do this to him just for a stupid game!"

"It wasn't a game. It was pushing Hiei into telling you himself, because that's the only person who should tell you."

"It's was about the game," Yukina denied, "It was about Hiei winning because he has been through a horrible situation, rejected by an entire society and you all couldn't take that fact and consider maybe he was finally having fun in a society that didn't hurt and reject him! No, instead, you had to shatter that by dragging in his old past and exposing it to all of us!"

"That's what you wanted Yukina." Kurama took his seat heavily.

Hiei pressed his head against Vena's, his nerves shot through. Each heightened voice Yukina wailed at them, the more his heart pounded in his chest, and the more he closed himself up like a disposable rag trying to listen, but wincing and jerking at each exclamation.

"Yukina," Vena offered softly.

"You, you knew too didn't you? You knew because Hiei came here to help his sister and you were dragged along, and despite all of that, you left him."

"Yukina, you're upsetting him." Vena wrapped her arms around Hiei and leaned against him, "He told me when he was sick, but said not to tell anyone, so I didn't."

Yukina crossed her arms over her pregnant self and shook her head staring at the lot of them.

"What do you expect us to do Yukina?" Kurama asked.

"I don't know, I have no idea what to expect from any of you any more. You've all lied to me so well for so long." She sniffed as the thoughts came rolling back. She grabbed for Kuwabara searching out his arms and settled into them quickly. "Oh god, Hiei's been here all this time and I haven't even known? How could I not know? He's my brother, I should have been able to tell he was my brother! How could I not… not see it?"

"And this is why I'm never getting pregnant," Vena offered Hiei.

"Can we go?" Hiei asked quietly, almost too quiet for Vena to hear.

"You want to leave?"

"Y-" He winced as Yukina wailed loudly. "Yes"

Yukina spurted up from Kuwabara and crossed to them, "Oh Hiei! I'm so sorry, I'm so so sorry!" She wrapped him in a hug as best she could, including Vena because Hiei was so close to her. "I'm so sorry I didn't understand. I always thought you were just, Oh, lords be." She wiped at her face, "You're my brother, that's why you want to keep me safe, that's why you're here. I'm pregnant with your nieces." She laughed, "You're protecting your family."

Hiei pushed himself up softly, avoiding Yukina as best he could, and marched decidedly away from the two of them heading straight for a door. Vena could feel that it took all of his effort not to run.

"Hiei!" Vena yelped, "Hey, we just can't leave like this!"

"Hiei what's wrong? Why are you leaving?" Yukina asked following him. She tried to take his arm but he shrugged away from her and pushed beyond the ten foot limit. His hand shook as he grabbed the handle.

"Because he's uncomfortable, Yukina."

"Give him time, It's a lot to process," Kurama suggested.

Kuwabara wrapped his arms around Yukina and kept her from following Hiei out the door. Vena hurried after him.

When she caught up, he was leaning against the rail panting heavily. His eyes raced across her checking her for injuries before he grabbed her hand and pulled her close, grabbing her shoulders once he had her facing him. "Go in my shadow."

"Hiei."

"Vena, please." He held her tightly.

"I don't think this is the right thing to do."

"Vena," he whined at her, "I need… I need this."

"Where are we going?"

"Don't ask, just, just get in."

"Hiei." She sighed, "At least tell her how you feel? Are you going to kill everyone in that room?"

"Vena!" He shouted loudly.

"I asked you some questions!" Vena barked back.

"Fine! I'll just do this without you!" Hiei snapped in response and started away from her, breaking into a sprint as he reached the edge of his limits.

"Hiei!" Vena yelped, hurrying to catch up with him, "Don't be an idiot!"

He didn't stop, he even gained ground between them, despite stumbling and tripping on occasion, he stayed ploughing forward as fast as he could with the weight of everything on his back. Eventually Vena gave up chasing after him and vanished.

When she did, Hiei stumbled and fell into the mud from the sudden change in his emotional status. He nearly ran into a tree as he stood, and began to bolt as fast as he could through the trees just moving. He finally stopped at the foot of the mountains at the edge of Genkai's land. He'd stumbled again, but this time, he didn't get back up, he let his breath heave like he'd just run ten marathons back to back, and let his pain mellow and hollow from it's ripened age.

Vena wasn't fast coming back out. It was a good ten minutes before she appeared beside him with a heavy sigh.

Hiei didn't look up at her, just rolled from his hands and knees to his back still panting for breath.

Vena rested her head on her knees, "Idiot."

"I just, couldn't take that."

"I don't think leaving like that fixed anything."

"It fixed me," he offered between pants. He shut his eyes long enough to focus on her and start the connection again.

"It might've fixed you but I have a feeling everything in that temple got a hundred times worse."

Hiei shook his head, "I don't care. I couldn't stay there. I couldn't… I don't even know what it means to be a brother to someone Vena, I can't just be called one once and know what that means."

"It just means everything you were Hiei. You protect your sister and care about her, you make sure no one's hurting her, and that she isn't hurting herself." She reached out to pet his hair, "Nothing that different."

"Well it can't mean everything I am!" Hiei screamed loudly, pushing himself up and swiping at her arm to push her away, "I am- I'm nothing to her. I'm just a guy who shows up at the last possible second when everyone else is too fucking slow."

Vena pushed him back, "Hiei, she really does like you."

"She shouldn't!"

"Why not?"

"I ruined her life Vena, I ruined it!"

"How did you ruin her life?"

"She would be a normal person in a normal family in her society if it wasn't for me. She never would have gotten kidnapped if her mother had never died, and her mother would have never died if I hadn't been born."

"The society that you loath, the society that's frozen?"

"Yeah well I wouldn't be around to loath it if I hadn't fucked up her life!"

Vena slapped him across the face, "Hiei!"

His eyes shut involuntarily and he held his cheek, his jaw cracking back into place.

"Get a hold of yourself! Stop loathing your stupid existence and make something out of it! Obviously you're here to protect Yukina you stupid numbskull!"

"The only reason I came to protect Yukina was because that god damn oaf can't do it alone!"

"No! It's also because you care about her Hiei! If you didn't care about her, you wouldn't have done it!"

"If I didn't ruin her life I wouldn't care about her, but I did, so I do, because I owe her my life! I've caused that woman so much pain, so much heartache, taken her away from so much, that I owe her a happily ever after no matter what it does to me!"

"You can fix that! Go back there and be the brother you are!"

"A brother is not what she needs! Not me anyways."

"Then go back there and be whatever she needs."

"She doesn't need me! Not with all of those fools surrounding her. God! Why am I even arguing about this?" Hiei wheeled away from her and stomped to the edge of his perimeter, he folded his arms over his chest and stared into the woods, his head hanging, but not down.

Vena sighed heavily and flopped onto her back, "Idiot."

"Plenty of people live without having siblings!"

"That doesn't mean they should live without siblings, it just means they do."

"We're beyond the age where any of that matters. God, Vena, I don't know what I'm doing but I can't go back there, not right now."

"I don't know what you're doing either Hiei."

"I said don't make me go back there!" He snapped at her despite her saying nothing of the sort. It felt like he was submerged beneath a mountain of water and every time he broke the surface, he was drowned in the thunder and the rain.

"I didn't say anything about going back there!"

"Well I'm not doing it! Not right now. Maybe after everything, maybe after she forgets, but I'm not going inside. She can't- I don't even. I can't be the same failure in person as I am in her imagination."

"She'll never forget." Vena told him bluntly.

"Do you know what she told me once? She told me that I was what she imagined her brother would be like, her brother, like me! God of all the people, she imagined her brother as some murdering, vicious man who couldn't even properly show affection!"

"Hiei, that's a compliment. That means she likes you and thinks you're a good person. And with everything you're saying I really want to punch you."

"Well I'm a dick who deserves to get punched," he turned his back on her again.

"Then I'd gladly punch you."

"It doesn't matter if she says she accepts me or not, she's going to want to learn about me, and watch me, and touch me, and all of that other bullshit like talk," He groaned and and crouched grabbing his ears as he huddled up.

"Oh my god Hiei!" Vena got to her feet and smacked him upside the head.

He winced and shied away from her, but just stared up at her like she'd told him to take out the trash rather than something offensive to him.

"She knows now, so what are you going to do?"

"I'm never going to enter her presence again, that's what I'm going to do. I'll just, protect her from the woods until she has-"

Vena smacked him again.

"What! It's the only option!"

"No it's not! You'll cause her more heartache than ever by never seeing her again you idiot! She wants you in her life!"

"Well I can't be that for her!"

Vena smacked him again, harder this time, "Yes you can! You already were!"

"No I wasn't! If it wasn't for your ass dragging me inside I never would have stepped foot in the temple!"

"Hiei, I find it hard to believe Hiei Jaganshi is sitting here huddled in a tiny little ball over his sister! Hiei, that's pathetic!"

"Then leave!" Hiei shot upright yelling loudly at her. "Just go away! Get out of here! If you hate me so much then go!"

"I don't hate you, I'm trying to get through your thick skull!"

"You don't understand." Hiei turned away from her, leaving his back exposed to her again.

"No, I don't. And you know what we're doing Hiei?"

"No, because every time I think I have a plan, you smack me and tell me it's not a plan."

Vena grabbed his arm and they were in the shadow world in an instant, "We're walking, that's what we're doing."

She felt Hiei's mind halt dead through all of the crazy thoughts and rampant fears, his brain silenced when they entered the shadow world, and he stared at her like he saw a ghost.

"I know, human shadows are weird, but come on."

"You're..." Hiei stepped away from her, fear flitting through his body as hot as a searing knife. "You're going to… You're really going to leave me aren't you? You're going to lock me up in one of these shadows and leave and I'll be stuck here."

Vena laughed loudly, so loudly that she doubled over, smacking her legs, "Oh my god you really are an idiot!"

Hiei looked out around the vacant prison he was going to be calling home for however long Vena decided to save him before she fed him to whatever the movements were in the dark, and felt his chest cleave. How could she do this to him?

"Hiei, I'm not leaving you here." Vena explained as she straightened up, wiping at her cheeks.

He wasn't amused, he heard her, but she felt how incredulous he was, how closed he was becoming, like all the doors they'd slowly opened through their night of love were shutting, tottering dominoes falling over.

"I had something else in mind actually," She walked over to him and offered her hand.

He didn't take it, just watched.

"If I left you in here, you'd rot pretty quickly because these are Human World shadows. I'm not going to trap you in any shadow ever unless it's to conserve your life."

"But you don't want me. I'm too weak, too pathetic. I've shown you the rot beneath my armor and you're..."

Vena groaned, "No Hiei, I want you, but I want you to start thinking too."

"I am thinking and everything I think says the same thing! You're going to trap me somewhere so you don't have to deal with me any more and I can die and you'll be free of this pathetic whelp you caught on accident."

"If you die, I'm going to die too. That was the whole point of the bonding we did."

He jerked back from her like she was acid, "Why the hell didn't you tell me that!" he screamed as loud as he could, it practically echoed in the shadows.

"What's so wrong with that?"

"Oh I don't know, I routinely use my body as a shield and almost die! I play with death every time I use my jagan! I am tempting it each moment I am too far away from you! Oh, and I get eaten by a fucking dragon of fire!"

"I did it so if you ever died, I wouldn't have to live through it. I already knew you'd probably die if I died because of depression or something else."

"That's not how it's supposed to work! I don't want to die with my last thought being that I not only was stupid enough to get killed, but that I was stupid enough to kill the only woman I'll ever love!"

"But I don't think you'd like watching me trap myself in shadows until I died."

"God, Vena, why the hell did you do this? I don't want to kill you!" he started pacing.

"Because I can't really imagine living without you?"

"You could have found someone! You're a smart, beautiful woman who can kick ass, someone would come along and save you from that hell."

"But what if I didn't want to find someone else Hiei!"

"You don't deserve to have your life cut short by some stupid pathetic fool who can't even stand up to a koorime!"

"We can't undo it."

Hiei sighed heavily and stopped, staring at her, "Never assume I know something, chances are, I don't. I just kill people, I don't understand demon society."

"Well, I was going to tell you because I was starting to think you didn't know when Kurama had to explain the whole openness, but I decided not to until now."

"Is there anything else this bond does?"

"Well normally you get some kind of mark that's a symbol of your mate." She shrugged, "I really haven't been able to find mine, it's somewhere I can't see it."

"I haven't looked. So the bond gives us a mark, binds our lives together, and makes us able to feel what each other are feeling."

"Yep." She stepped forward, "I can try to find your mark, but I'm not sure what it'd look like."

Hiei sighed and shook his head, "Not a good idea." he squoze his bandaged hand.

"Why not? Oh. Um, well," she shrugged.

"If it's wrapped up with the dragon it could get loose while you look."

"I have a feeling it's not." She shook her head and tugged on his cloak.

"Yeah, well, mine is probably the dragon somewhere on you." He wrapped an arm over her shoulder and put his other hand on her hip.

"Probably," she agreed, stepping closer to snuggle up to him.

"Vena, I can't go back there right now."

"Hm?"

"Back to her. I don't even know if she'd want me there."

Vena sighed and rested her head against his shoulder, "Shut up about it Hiei."

Hiei sighed and wrapped his lower arm around her back.

Vena flicked his cloak off and let it fall.

"Stop, stop," Hiei let her go and stepped back, grabbing his cloak back up again.

"Why?"

"Not right now." He flicked it back on again and buried his arms inside.

"I'm trying to distract you."

"Well right now I don't want to be that vulnerable."

Vena sighed, "Then you can find it on me," with that she started slipping her shoes off.

"Vena, I'm pretty positive it's the dragon. The dragon sort of embodies my energy after I ate it."

"Well I want you to find it," Vena fumbled with her pants.

"If you haven't seen it," he turned her around and hooked a finger under her shirt, tugging it up. When he started exposing her back, he traced back and forth along her spine all the way up to the base of her neck on her back. "Right here."

Vena shivered and sighed in delight, "That feels nice."

Hiei sighed, "Well I don't want to go back."

"I don't know what to do then Hiei." Vena stepped away from him and pulled her shirt down, crossing her arms, "So, do you still think I'm trapping you here?"

He sighed and shook his head, "I don't know what to think. We're safer in here than out there though."

Vena turned to look at him, "You're not pathetic Hiei."

"You say that but I am. I was excited to finally be able to win a game when all it proved was something that should have never come to light. I can't handle something as simple as having a sister, which millions of people do, sometimes more than once. You were right to call me pathetic."

"You're not pathetic Hiei, I was just frustrated with you."

"Because I'm pathetic," he countered.

"Say that one more time Hiei." Vena snapped, "You're not pathetic."

"Vena, how many demons do you know who are afraid of social relationships with people other than ones they can kill?"

"Several actually. Shadow demons tend to be pretty insecure around other types of demons."

He sighed and wandered away from her.

Vena followed him, "Don't you think if you were really that pathetic I'd just kill us both?"

He nodded, "That's why I can't decide if you're going to lock me in here or not. If you do, you can just go on living and I'll be stuck in whatever shadow you want to maintain unable to interrupt."

"I'm not going to." Vena hurried forward and grabbed his arm. They were back in Human World, "See?"

Hiei stiffened and stepped back, away from whatever he was staring at over her shoulder. The crunch of gravel made Vena realize they weren't quite where they'd left Human World.

"Shit," Vena whined, "I didn't mean to do this Hiei. Human World shadows move very quickly. I didn't expect we'd get dropped off here."

"Hiei you came back!" Yukina raced out of the temple and ran towards them, a huge smile on her face.

Hiei grabbed Vena's arm and dragged her back several feet.

"Yukina, stop!" Vena barked.

The pregnant woman took a few more steps, but did as Vena suggested.

"We came back on accident. Hiei doesn't want to be here."

"But you are here. You're here and we can make this right! We can be together now."

"Hiei doesn't want to be here."

"How could he-. He doesn't love me?"

"No, it's not that," Hiei shook his head.

"Then what is it?" Yukina demanded. Kuwabara made it to her side and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, holding them.

"I just…." He stared at Vena, not sure what to say.

"He's uncomfortable. He doesn't think he's a good brother."

"Nonsense!" Yukina waved him off and laughed. "You're the best I could ever wish for Hiei."

That stung. Vena wasn't sure why, but it hurt Hiei to hear that, he gripped her arm tighter and leaned away.

"That hurt him."

"She doesn't need to know everything I'm feeling! Just because you know doesn't mean you have the right to share!"

"Hurt, him? Why does that hurt?"

"I don't know."

He scoffed and shook his head, "I'm not getting into this debate right now."

"Hiei, is everything alright?" Kurama came out of the temple.

"No," Vena answered.

The fox crossed the driveway and despite Hiei's uncomfortable nervousness about him approaching, he didn't move away, just glared. "Hiei, what's going on?" Kurama asked quietly. "She loves you, she accepts you, what's wrong?"

"He thinks he's pathetic."

"God woman, shut up!"

"Hiei?" Kurama requested again.

Hiei sighed heavily and dragged Vena towards the woods. The three of them crossed into the shadows of the trees and slowed until they came to a clearing where just grass poked up through the dead undergrowth and stumps. "Hiei?"

"What!"

"What's wrong?"

"What isn't wrong? Apparently she's going to die when I do, and Yukina is going to expect me to know what the hell families are, and then she's going to want me to be a brother to her, which means interacting with her, and actually letting her see me, and touch me, and talk to me, and I didn't even want her to know I was protecting her, but that didn't happen and now I have to deal with her always worrying about me, or trying to do things with me, and complaining when I'm not around."

"Yes, she is going to die when you do. No Hiei, Yukina just wants you close. She just wants your presence. She needs your support right now. Eventually, she might want that, but really Hiei, she just wants you near."

"Well I don't want to be near her! The closer we are, the more likely someone's going to mark her as a target and kidnap her again."

"You're breaking her heart with this Hiei. She was really upset when you left."

"I don't want to break her heart by being a stupid ass!"

"Then go over there, and be with your sister Hiei!"

"Don't you see where this is going to go? I'm going to be with her for however long it's convenient and then she's going to expect me to realize something and I won't, and then she's going to expect me to understand something, or do something, and I won't, and eventually I'll tally up enough of these things that she'll start to realize just how fucked up I am and she'll never want me near anything to do with her again!"

"No Hiei, just spend time with her. You'll learn anything you need to know. You are fucked up," Kurama chuckled, "But she loves you."

"She doesn't have room for me. She's going to have kids. She's literally creating children as we speak. I can't fuck up them too."

"The temple has plenty of room. You don't have to stay forever. Just stay until a few months after the children are born Hiei."

"No, I'm not going to make her children bloodthirsty monsters."

"No you're not Hiei. Stop, really. What happens when you knock Vena up?"

"I'm not going to knock Vena up! She doesn't want kids!"

"Surprises happen Hiei. Are you just going to crawl under a rock if it does happen? No, you won't. Hiei, you are one of the bravest people I know, so walk your ass over to your sister."

"Don't you see how much harder it's going to be if we actually interact Kurama? Why can't you understand this!"

"You don't have to interact. She just wants you there."

"Yeah, well that's a whole hell of a lot more than she ever wanted before!"

Kurama sighed, "No. Not really Hiei."

"Yes it is, she never needed me anywhere, or wanted me anywhere before."

"She didn't want you to kill that man. That was asking a lot of you."

"She was asking a stranger not to kill in front of her, that's all."

"Hiei, you're not going to mess this up."

"I already have!"

Vena smacked his chest, "Would you stop? Just, come on!" She started dragging him forward.

Hiei dug his feet in as best he could. Kurama grabbed the two of them and dragged them back to the little clearing, "Hiei, do you see this woman right here?" He pointed at Vena, letting her go.

"What about her," he tried to free himself from Kurama, but couldn't.

"Vena, unlike you, knows what to do with siblings, she knows what to do with politics, she knows what to do with stupid bosses who are trying to sexually assault their subjects, and, guess what, she knows what to do with people. I'm right, right?" Kurama asked Vena.

"Yeah," Vena nodded.

"Hiei, do you agree."

"How the fuck should I know?"

"Well you found her in a city that loved her, she has siblings, and she protected you from Mukuro, oh, and she's never made a fool of herself in public that I've heard about."

"Fine, yes, I agree Fox, now get on with it."

"If you," he snagged Vena's wrist and put their hands together, "take her to be your lawfully wedded guide, then she, will not lead you wrong."

Vena nodded, "I wouldn't."

"So just, trust in the woman you love, the one you picked out of everyone else in the world, and let her fill these things you feel you lack."

"I can interact with Yukina." Vena offered.

Hiei stared at her, "But she's going to want me to do things I don't understand."

"And you have a Jagan. Use it."

"You can understand, if you want." Vena chuckled, "Remember our first night together? When you got attached to me as a mate? You didn't understand a lot of what I wanted, but you figured it out and we had a great time."

Hiei flushed and ducked his chin staring up at her with wider eyes.

"Really! You figured it out! You found out what I liked and didn't like and used that to understand what I wanted."

"But I had your noises to guide me. I'm not going to have any sort of reaction from Yukina that's clear like that."

Vena chuckled, "So use your head," she tugged on his bandanna, "Like Kurama said."

"Exactly. If you get lost, ask Vena, she'll tell you what to do. Does that sound like something you can do Hiei?" Kurama released the two of them so they were holding hands still.

Hiei stepped closer to Vena, "Fine, but only because of her, not because you came up with this stupid idea. It's probably the worst one I've heard in a long fucking time Fox."

Vena giggled and kissed him on the lips, dragging him towards the temple.


	20. Chapter 20 Are You My Happy Ending?

"That went better than expected," Kane stepped out of the woods and leaned against a tree.

"It really did," Kurama agreed.

"You know, there's something that you could really use a Jagan to understand too. You just seem to keep on missing it."

"Hm?"

"Hmmmm," she stepped up to him and traced a finger along his jaw, smiling seductively down at him.

Kurama chuckled, "Hm? Well, if you really insist, but I want to see our orchids."

"Oh god yes. Please," She grabbed his hand and raced back towards home.

When they got there, Kurama scrambled to open the door and race with Kane to find their flowers.

The two orchids sat practically face to face, reaching for one another on the window sill of the kitchen basking in the sun, one head mostly silver, with golden specks lined with traces of red on the innermost petals, and the other was mostly gold, with silver spots and red, again, lining some of the flower though it was the outer petals.

They both made a noise of delight and squeezed each other's hands.

"Oh my god Kane!" Kurama exclaimed.

"I know! and ugh, can you smell that? God, get back in your youko form so you can enjoy this smell better."

Kurama powered up and groaned in delight, wrapping his arms around her tightly.

She leaned into him and grinned, "They're perfect."

"They are." Kurama kissed her.

Kane held his shoulders staring up at him, "Kurama, I want you to know that no matter what, I am here because I love you, not because of who you were, or what you've done or what you're doing, it's because I care about you for you, and I want to be there to be your rock, and your blade, and anything else you want me for. I want to enjoy your company, and in the end of everything, I want to be with you."

Kurama smiled widely and leaned down kissing her, pulling back, "Kane," he shifted, tugging her closer, "You don't just have to be there for me. I want to be there for you too. You get so caught up in work sometimes you need a reminder to eat, well I want to be that for you. I want to be there when you're quiet to remind you that you have a voice. I want to be the person who receives all your smart ass comments and sass when I tease you at work. I want to be the lover who sneaks into your office to get a kiss before going back to work. I want to be your everything Kane."

Kane had to blink rapidly to stop from tearing up. She leaned up and kissed him hard on the lips. "Let's go fuck already," she whispered when she pulled away. "God if you take any longer I'm going to do you on the kitchen floor."

"Alright, alright," Kurama let her lead them away.

"Mmm and the way you talked at my family's place god, I thought I was going to have to go to the bathroom and dry out! You're such a tease."

"I try to be," Kurama snickered.

She dragged him out of the room with a firm yank.

Hiei rolled over for the twelfth time to stare at Vena's sleeping form. This time, he reached up and gently stroked her cheek, "Hey, wake up."

"Why?"

"Because," he huffed, he wasn't going to admit he wanted her attention. He would never admit he wanted her attention, but god, he wanted her attention. She was sleeping for so long and he had to wait for her to wake up so she could be with him, it took too long.

"Because?"

"Hn." He watched her tired eyes close as she yawned, then focus back on him again. Maybe he should let her sleep. She felt tired. He settled a hand on her abdomen and fed her energy. He couldn't wait another four hours for her to be with him, that would take too long. She'd just have to deal with waking up because of forced energy rather than recovered.

Vena smacked his hand away and whined, rolling over onto her stomach, "I'm comfortable."

"You're tired." He rubbed her back, tracing along her spine with a little bit of pressure counting the bones as he went.

Vena moaned in delight and squirmed, "I am tired, what of it?"

"I don't want you tired." He scooted closer and nipped at her ear. He hated to admit it to himself even, but he wanted her awake, and with him like she'd taught him. The idea of his desire was embarrassing though, and he shoved it aside.

Vena shifted to look at him, "Don't you sleep at all?"

"I did sleep. Now I'm awake." He shifted just enough to tickle her nose with his own, but kept a straight face to not give away he was trying to tickle her on purpose.

Vena giggled and wrapped an arm around him, rubbing their noses together.

He huffed and sighed in relief to have her snuggled up close to him. He wrapped his arms around her and scooped her up so she was laying on his chest and between his legs. This was much better.

"Did you sleep well?" Vena asked.

"No." He wasn't going to lie about sleeping well, just about why he slept poorly.

"No?" She nuzzled against him.

"If I'd been sleeping well I would still be sleeping." He rubbed her back to encourage her nuzzling, enjoying the shivers of delight it sent through his body.

"So something woke you up."

Well that was not a conversation he wanted to get into. "How did you sleep?" That was a stupid question, he only realized it after he asked it though. He'd woken her up, she was sleeping fine before he woke her up. Now, however, she was not sleeping because of him, and reminding her of that was a bad idea.

"I slept pretty good."

"Is there a way to..." he wasn't sure he could say it. Was it even possible to be closer than they already were?

"To what?"

"To be together while we dream?"

She frowned, "I don't know. I'd imagine with the help of your jagan we could figure something out."

He shook his head, "No, not with the Jagan. That doesn't like to behave while I'm sleeping."

"Um, we can always experiment." She offered.

"And how do you suggest we experiment when I don't want to sleep right now?"

She chuckled, "No, we can try later maybe. All I know about bonding is the emotions, the death, and the marks."

Hiei slid his hands down and rested them on her lower back, or maybe a little lower than her lower back, he wasn't sure. He was watching her expression rather than his hands he couldn't see.

Vena leaned up and kissed him on the lips, settling against him, "You want attention," she murmured.

"Hn." Okay fine, she knew what he was feeling because of the link, but he wasn't going to vocally confirm it.

"Hn?"

"Yes." Or maybe he was. This woman made him do things he didn't want to do.

She chuckled, "Okay, what kind of attention do you want?"

Hiei frowned, he had to think about that. "I want your attention." That was the best summary of it.

"Oh, my attention."

She was teasing him. He held back a grumble, and let himself play back, "Maybe, you might be a bitch about it."

"Ooh," she purred, "I can be your bitch."

"What the hell are you talking about woman? I don't own you. If anyone owns anyone, you own me. You're the one in charge of how far we can separate."

Vena sighed, "I was trying to play with you."

"Oh." He sighed as well. So much for that.

"Well, what do you want me to do to give you attention?"

"You are giving me attention."

Vena rested her head against his shoulder, nuzzling into his neck, "How are you?"

"Alright. Vena," he wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her sides in his hands, holding her to him as best he could, "What do you want out of life?"

"What do I want out of life? I want a happy life."

"But what is that for you?"

"Being with you."

"That can't be the only thing that makes you happy in life though, there's got to be something from before."

"Talking to people? Eating, drinking beer? Fighting?" She shrugged.

"I don't want you to feel trapped with me."

"I don't."

He nodded, "Good. We need to talk about what happens when Yukina gives birth."

"Well, out pops a baby."

"No, not that! God! No!" His most disgusted face came out of his closet for the thought, "God, Vena, no. With us, what're we doing when there's a crying ball of goo, puke, and snot in this place."

"And poop," She offered, "We, will leave and go to Demon World."

"And there might be two of them. Do we abandon ship and go back to Demon World? Mukuro's or somewhere else?"

"Well, we abandon ship, go to Demon World, and make a home in a cave and live happily ever after."

"Which is what?"

"Hm?"

"We can't just sit around and eat all day. What is our happily ever after?"

"We'll figure it out Hiei." She kissed him and nuzzled against his cheek.

Hiei sighed and relaxed, letting himself fall into the feelings of her lips against his cheek. "Alright, fine, but this isn't over."

Vena chuckled, shifting to sit on his stomach more than lay on him, "I know it isn't."

"Where are you going?"

"Hm? No where."

"Good," He settled his hands back on her back again. "You'se supposed to be giving me attention, remember?"

"Oh, am I not giving you enough attention?" she teased, leaning back, "I thought I was."

Hiei shrugged in response and folded his hands behind his head.

Vena chuckled, "How do you want attention? Huh?"

"How? I don't know, served up on a clean platter with a bowl of everything on the side?"

She laughed and leaned down to kiss him.

Hiei smiled and kissed her back, he was enjoying this far too much. "Don't leave me."

"Why would I do that?"

He shrugged and rubbed her back, kneading it. "Because you're bored."

Vena sighed, "I can't leave when you do that."

"When I do what?"

"Rub my back like that."

"Well I'd better do it more often then, huh?"

She chuckled, "Yeah, I guess so." She reached out and touched his dragon, "But I can't leave now," she offered.

He smiled, he couldn't help it. Hearing that she couldn't leave made him feel like he'd won something, like somehow, despite everything she could hate him for, she was there forever, with him.

Vena leaned down and kissed him on the lips, "I love being with you Hiei."

"And you can't leave when I fuck everything up."

"You're not going to mess anything up, and if you do, I won't leave, and if I could leave, I wouldn't."

"You say I'm not going to mess anything up, but you can't leave regardless of how wrong you are." Hiei tightened his hold on her.

"That's true," she chuckled, "I wouldn't leave you ever."

He leaned up enough to kiss her softly on the lips, enticing her to lay with him in bed, enjoying the sensations their contact provided tickling through his senses. She pressed her tongue to his lips and he allowed her to play within the confines of his mouth, not battling her will, just following along with her, letting her guide him through whatever it was they were doing, because he sure as hell didn't know what it was. He clung to her arms when his mind hazed with an emotion he was familiar with seeing, and pulled back, but the lingering thoughts of her, the idea of everything she was, wanting to speak with her, and learn about her, and be with her, and enjoy her scent, and her company, and her world, all of it felt like it was going to well up in his brain and shut it down at once. He wanted too much for a single moment in time. He didn't know where to start.

Holding her away didn't work. Vena started going after his jaw and chin, kissing and nibbling at the soft flesh, chuckling all the while as she stole a few kisses from his lips as she switched sides.

"Vena." She just made a curious noise. He collected her back into his hands and pushed her back again, "Vena."

"What?" She whined at him.

"Do you feel like this too?"

"Of course I do."

He frowned confused, "How can you decide what to do with all these things you want?"

"I don't."

"Vena, I-" he frowned, did he really want to say it to her face in such a quiet room? But what else could it be. He knew this had to be what it was, but could he get the words out of his mouth? There was no questioning this, but it was just a matter of time before it faded into the same dark nothingness of every other positive emotion he'd ever felt. "Vena, I love you." She had to know, because right now, it was true.

Vena's eyes lit up and she smiled widely, "I love you too Hiei." She murmured, leaning forward to give him a soft kiss.

He kissed her back allowing himself to melt into the taste of her again, and dismissed his other questions and thoughts just for now. For now, he would just enjoy being swept away by her attention, and that was enough.

 _Author's Note: Hey guys!_

 _This is the end of "New Hires" so I hope you enjoyed the ending. I'm looking for another one of our works to put up so I'd appreciate feedback about what you liked, what you didn't like, and what you'd like to see. Do you want to see another one with Vena? Do you want more Kane? We have other fics with those characters! Let me know what you want._

 _Also, if you liked this, you may also like stories on ArmordaRay's FF account, so go check them out! She's in my favorite authors if you don't want to hunt her down._


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